Chapter Eleven

"Wow, exciting kiss."

She clicked her tongue and threw her shoe at him. "Why are you spying on me?"

"Because I've never seen you in love with someone before."

"I'm not in love with him," she spat, walking towards him and pulled him to her room by his ear. "Hyunwoo, I will rip your ear off next time."

"Ow, ow," he whined, trying to escape. "Jiwoo, it hurts!" 

"Then don't spy on me next time," she growled, letting go of his ear. "Did they receive the information yet? I put that microchip in his phone during that... thing that happened a minute ago."

"Yeah, they sent me a text right after you closed the door," he explained, laying down on her bed. "How do you even live a double life? Isn't it hard?"

She shrugged, grabbing the clothes that sat on her chair. "I get to see the best of both worlds."

"Are you going to leave the gang without anyone knowing your identity?" he asked quietly.

"I hope so."

His body shot up and he shook his head. "Why? I don't understand why you have to do that. You should-"

"No," she cut him off as she made her way to the bathroom. "It'll be impossible to leave if anyone else finds out."

"It's already impossible," he sighed, laying back down. "I mean, you're still going to become a criminal if you go back to Hong Kong, so why not just stay in Korea and have a gang behind your back? They all respect you more than me."

She opened the door, tucked her hair in her cap and climbed out the window. "Keep convincing me, maybe I'll change my mind. Now, let's get going."

Thinking that when she arrived to her villa, she would be stuck in the office doing paper work, the members rushed over to her as soon as she stepped into her property. All of them shouted over each other and could hardly make out what any of them were saying. She removed her mask, then let out a sigh and walked past them and into her living room. 

"I don't know what you guys are saying." 

They settled down and then one member stepped forward and explained everything again. "We got ambushed while buying arms. Hyunjae, Dongwook, and Jiseok are injured."

"Bought them from who?" she asked as she stood up and walked to the infirmary. 

"Juhwan."

"Did you guys confirm who it was and how long ago was this?"

The member nodded. "Yes, it's Juhwan and it happened half an hour ago."

"I'll check up on them first," she said, standing behind the door. "Relax for a bit; I'll give orders after this."

They all nodded and walked back downstairs. Hyunwoo stood next to her and followed her inside. The three members were lying on the bed, but one was still unconscious. The doctor walked towards her, but his expression already gave it away. The good news would be followed by bad, but she remained calm. It was the only thing she could do in this situation.

"Hyunjae and Jiseok will be fine. They only have minor injuries," the doctor said, then turned around and looked over at Dongwook. "However, Dongwook might not be able to survive the night."

"What injuries did he suffer?"

"Head injury and he's got a wound on his lower abdomen. Even if he does make it through the night, he'll be in a coma. I'm sorry, Ms. Kim."

She looked over at his bed and asked. "Can I go see him?"

"Go ahead."

"Hyunwoo, can you please the doctor out? Thank you for helping us."

"My pleasure. Good evening to you, Ms. Kim."

She smiled in response, then walked over to Dongwook and took a seat next to his bed. There was loads she had to say, but she could say it out loud. All she felt was an agonizing pain her heart when she saw him hooked up onto all sorts of machines. She had planned to retaliate, but at this point, all she wanted to do was say her farewells. 

"Hey," she sighed, arranging her sentences in her mind and then speaking in Cantonese. "You have done a lot of me and I will always be thankful for that. Coming to Korea and learning the language must've been difficult for you. I'm sorry for making you move different countries."

"Jiwoo?" Hyunwoo called out softly. 

"This is a wake up call for me," she said, standing up. "I think I need to abandon my shop for a while."

"This may be the only chance," Hyunwoo explained, standing next to her. "You should expose yourself. Balancing two lives is only going to get more difficult from here. We're starting to attract enemies."

She took her cap off and ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know anymore. The only thing I can focus on right now is Juhwan."

"Okay, fine. Deal with Juhwan first; but after, you and I are going to talk."

"Talk now. Dealing with Juhwan won't be difficult."

"I'm giving you two choices. You must decide right now and can only pick one. You can't live two lives anymore, okay? Choose one to abandon."

She cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I don't want to argue with you, so I'll choose this one. Happy yet? I'm going out now."

"Where are you going?" he asked, stopping her from leaving.

"To deal with this problem. Now if you excuse-"

"Alone?"

"Yes, alone. I'll see you in a bit."

"You're not-"

She walked past him and turned around. "No, I'm not bringing any of you. I'd rather have you all in perfect condition, than to drag your asses back."

Jiwoo changed her wardrobe and left the house; not taking a single member with her. The only thing she had was her handgun and a switchblade, but she hoped that neither one of them would be touched. The last thing she wanted to do was to set a fire so she could dispose the evidence. 

_____

"Tell us the deeds," Jonghwa smirked as he hovered over Sangbae.

"I'll tell you everything after meeting up with Juhwan."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Daewon said, face palming himself. "We were so excited to hear about your date."

"I can't believe we're associated with gangs," Sangbae rolled his eyes. "We act like high school students."

Jonghwa chuckled, then put his hand on Sangbae's shoulder. "Let's quit dissing each other and get going. The earlier we finish, the earlier we get to hear about the story."

They headed out the door and into their vehicle. Sangbae has been friends with Juhwan for a few months and although he doesn't fully trust him yet, he was invited to discuss business. He wasn't in the position to pass the offer since money was a little bit tight for him and the gang. Accepting it would benefit him, but he had to know more details about it. Having allies was one thing, but 's protection was another. 

"Moos," Sangbae said, looking at the camera as he stated his alias. "Madtown; no weapons in the vehicle nor concealed. You may check if you like."

The gate opened and drove inside, seeing four of Juhwan's members waiting for him. Everybody got out of the vehicle and stood aside. Two members patted them down and the other two checked their vehicle. Once everything was inspected and no arms were found, they went inside. Juhwan greeted them, then brought the members of Madtown into his office. 

"I'm glad you could make it," Juhwan said with a hint of enthusiasm in his voice. "I don't think I'd be able to take their whole gang down alone."

"Which gang?"

"9Lives."

Sangbae froze, unsure if he had heard him right. "Pardon?"

"9Lives," Juhwan repeated himself. "Are you not up for it?"

"Yes, I'm not up for it. It's too dangerous. I'm not willing to risk our lives for the unresolved conflicts between you and the leader of 9Lives. I have full knowledge of who and what they are," Sangbae explained, declining the offer. "Hyunwoo's history is unknown and I'm not going to dig deeper. I don't know the guy well and we don't have any problems with each other and I'd like to keep it that way."

Juhwan chuckled as he sat down. "My offer is high."

"I still stick to my answer," Sangbae said, remaining calm. "They have more members than both of our gangs combined."

"Numbers don't mean anything."

Sangbae shook his head. "Did you even do research on them? Only the skilled are accepted."

"You seem to know a lot about them; I'm interested," Juhwan smirked as he pulled out a brief case. "I'll offer you cash in exchange intel."

"I think I already said one," Sangbae scoffed, sticking his hand out. "I believe you owe me."

Juhwan nodded, then opened the brief case, taking out a stack of hundreds. "Here you go. Anymore you'd like to reveal? Ten thousand per."

"Well-"

Sangbae cut Daewon off and shook his head. "My business here is done. Like I said, I don't want to end up on Hyunwoo's bad side."

He was about to leave, when Juhwan rose from his seat and shot him a death glare. "You will not be permitted to leave until I get the answers I want to hear."

Before Sangbae could reply, the door ripped out of it's hinges and fell onto the ground with Juhwan's members lying on top of the door. The members groaned in pain as he struggled to get the words out of his mouth. 

"Intruder... Someone... Inside house..."

The man fell unconscious and Sangbae growled. "Of course Hyunwoo would have found out already."

A person, dressed in all black stood in front of the door with a blade in their hand. They stood a step, then stopped at the unconscious man lying on the door. Kicking the body over, the mysterious person pressed their foot against his throat, then stomped on it. A loud crack echoed in the office, sending shivers down everyone's spine. Juhwan's eyes widened as he reached for the hidden pistol in his desk. Before he even got the chance to grasp it in his hand, the person had already pulled out theirs and shot his arm. They raised the hand that wasn't holding the gun and pointed at Sangbae, making the 'move aside' signal. Doing as he's told, he moved aside along with the other members. Juhwan held his wound and begged.

"Don't kill me. I'll give you all my money!"

They made their way closer, then whispered. "I don't want your money. I want your life. You killed one of my members."

"9Lives," Juhwan gasped. "Y-You're not Hyunwoo though."

"Should I reveal myself... but there are guests in the room," they mumbled, then put the switchblade back into their pocket and reached for their mask, pulling it slightly down. "You've seen the real leader of 9Lives. I guess it's time to... go?"

Before Juhwan could plead further, the trigger was pulled and Juhwan's body fell down onto the ground with a bullet wound on both his head. Sangbae lunged onto them, trying to pull the gun out of their hand, but the person had let go of it, letting drop to the ground. He saw the mask and took the opportunity to rip it off to see who it was. He ripped it off of their face, but they faced down and used one hand to cover half of their face, then used the other to punch.  

"Grab their arm," Sangbae ordered.

Juhwan yanked their arm back and the person let out a laugh. "You caught me."

A/N

The big reveal, huh? 

Ooh, I took a while on this chapter. I'm probably going to be busy next week. I was pretty busy this week and had writer's block. Sorry for taking such a long time.

Anyways, I've been thinking lately. I don't want to drag this story on forever, so I might end it at around ch. 30? I feel like if I go all the way up to 50, it would start to become very boring. I know it's a little early to think about this, but I'm kind of planning ahead. 

Sorry for taking so long!