Chapter Three

"Brother huh?" Sangbae scoffed, "Her brother is going to be the cause of her death. She shouldn't be living alone."

"She could secretly be in that gang too," Jonghwa said, "Maybe she's good at covering her tracks?"

"We'll watch her for a couple of days," Sangbae said, clenching his fist, "We need more information about Hyunwoo."

Daewon shook his head, "If the higher ranked gangs can't get that information, we can't either. Hyunwoo doesn't reveal anything and anyone who finds something about him gets killed before they can tell the world. I think it's best if we stay back."

Nodding, Sangbae returned to his room. He was worried about Jiwoo and didn't want her to get hurt. He knew that he shouldn't be prioritizing a girl before the gang; he's trying not to get carried away, but she's so close to him now. He's been watching her form afar and now he's living across from her. There was no way he would let her slip away. He will make her his and that was final. 

Jiwoo woke up and stared at the clock. It was early morning and she realized that she fell asleep on the sofa. Her phone rang and she extended her arm out, grabbing the phone. She pressed the answer key and placed the phone on her ear, hearing Hyunwoo's voice. 

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" 

"No," Jiwoo mumbled, "I just woke up."

"I did a background check on them," Hyunwoo sighed, "I don't think you'll be pleased with the results."

Jiwoo got up and asked, "What did you dig up?"

"Their gang is called Madtown. Kim Sangbae is the leader of that gang," Hyunwoo explained, "They look innocent, but trust me, they've seen a lot. Coincidently, we've been ing partnered up with them. He's seen my face before, so he knows who I am and he's seen me exit your apartment yesterday. He did a background check on me and he's probably going to keep digging. You're not in a good position right now, so you need to convince him that you're not affiliated with your own gang. Say some about me; just make sure he doesn't find out."

Jiwoo chuckled, "I'll be careful. Who even arranged this partnering system? It makes no sense. Why do we need 7 more people? What is that going to change?"

"I don't ing know who arranged this system, but as soon as I accepted the money, they told me that Madtown was going to be working with us. I asked why, but I never got an answer. This is ing stupid," Hyunwoo growled, "I shouldn't have accepted it. Why do we have to work with rookies?"

"Technically we're rookies too," Jiwoo reminded him, "We've only been here for a year, so we're considered rookies too. They don't know our past and who we're affiliated with, so they were probably thinking, 'Put the rookies together so no one get's hurt.'"

"ing stupid," Hyunwoo spat. 

"Come over to my coffee shop for a pastry, you sound very frustrated. I think you could go for a doughnut."

Hyunwoo scoffed, "Please."

"Before I hang up on you," Jiwoo said, "We're going to be using plan C for this fight. We're going to disregard Madtown because we don't know who they are and they probably got their own plan as well. We just need to watch out for ourselves, okay? Our top priority is to protect our own before others."

"Alright, I'll see you tonight?"

"Maybe."

"What do you mean?"

"Since Madtown knows who you are, they're probably going to see if I know about the gang," she replied and then paused before continuing, "Alright, I'll come, but I might take the longer and safer route."

Hyunwoo sighed in relief, "Good, because we need our actual leader."

"Yeah, yeah," she chuckled, "Anyways, I'll see you tonight."

Jiwoo got ready and left the apartment. She felt suffocated in her own house and wanted to let her mind be clear of thoughts. As she was driving, she noticed a black sedan has been following her for quite a while. It was early and there weren't any cars around. Jiwoo looked at her rear view mirror and stared at the license plate, then called Hyunwoo. 

"What happened now?" Hyunwoo asked.

"Search for this licence plate," she replied and then gave him the license plate number, "They've been following me ever since I left the apartment. See if the car is registered or not."

"Give me a few seconds, madam."

"Quit calling me madam," she groaned, "I'm not a cop."

He scoffed, "You wish you were. Anyways, I found it. The car isn't registered. Just try to lose them. Don't confront them because it's early and I doubt there's any cars around."

She quickly exited the highway and cursed, "If I find out who this is, I'm going to ing smash their skull."

"It could be your precious neighbours," Hyunwoo said and she clicked her tongue. 

"Alright, thanks, Hyunwoo. I'll see you later."

"Later."

Heojun sighed and watched as Jiwoo's car exited the highway. 

"Sorry hyung, I lost her," Heojun said into the phone, expecting Sangbae to yell at him.

"It's fine," Sangbae said, "I'm following her now."

"Don't you think this is a little wrong?" Heojun asked, "Following her..."

"I just need to see what she's doing so early in the morning."

Heojun scoffed, "No, you don't. She could just be doing her morning walks or in this case... drive."

"Well, she knows who Hyunwoo is and I don't trust that guy. We're partnered up, but that doesn't mean I need to trust him. He has no information, no background, no nothing. The only thing we know is his name and his gang. I don't want Jiwoo getting hurt."

"Do what makes you happy," Heojun said before hanging up. 

Sangbae knew that this wasn't the right thing to do, but he was worried about her. He followed until she arrived at her coffee shop. He parked a little bit further and stared at her car, waiting for her to get out, but she was still inside. Suddenly, his phone rang and he looked at the caller ID, but it was a blocked one. He put his phone back on the seat and then looked at Jiwoo's car and found that there was nobody inside. Worried, he got out of his car and then felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He turned around and found Jiwoo standing behind him. 

"Why are you following me?" she asked.

"I didn't," he lied.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not stupid."

"Can we go inside and talk?" he asked.

"What do you take me for? I met you yesterday and I was friendly. Don't get the wrong idea."

"Look, I'll explain everything if we go inside," he asked, "Please, can you trust me this one time?"

She clenched her fists and then growled, "Fine, let's go." 

They walked inside her shop and she shut the door, waiting for his answer.