Chapter 7

“What the hell is this?”

There was an extremely loud thud, the undertone of something metallic also echoing through the air, as Jongdae slammed down the pistol in front of Secretary Jo’s desk.

The man looked up at him through his glasses, already frowning. It melted into surprise when his eyes widened with recognition, and then the expression turned into confusion when the thought really dawned that it was Jongdae.

Still, impeccably trained, the man managed to straighten a couple of seconds later, looking up at Jongdae with his eyebrow raised. He’d always been that way, and Jongdae knew—his calmness was enough to drive someone insane, and the only way to deal with him was the match the same amount of calmness. Which Jongdae was positive he wasn’t capable of doing at the moment.

“What is it?” the man finally asked. He reached over to touch the gun cautiously with a finger before he looked up again. “What is this?”

“You tell me,” Jongdae snapped back. Secretary Jo leaned back a bit, obviously slightly surprised by the outburst (Jongdae himself was too, though—he rarely lost his temper, and when he did, it was never in front of the Sicari. The inability to control emotions would be a huge weakness). Still, looking at the pistol made him mad, and it was enough that he was angry enough not to care.

Secretly Jo sighed. He leaned forward to reach for the weapon, picked it up gingerly like it would harm him if he made contact with it, and then unwrapped the cloth from around the gun.

He glanced at the gun, then at Jongdae, then raised an eyebrow. “It’s a gun,” he said flatly. “What about it? Do you want another one? You don’t have to come up here—”

“I don’t use guns,” Jongdae snarled back. The man flinched slightly, obviously a bit surprised by the outburst before he masked it with another expression of calm, but it wasn’t before Jongdae snatched the weapon from his hand again. Thinking about it made him mad, and he normally was completely capable of keeping his temper around the Sicari. “Look at this. You only give these out to either higher ups in the company, or assassins that work here permanently and cannot leave. I was attacked by someone carrying this last night.”

Secretary Jo’s eyes widened. “You were attacked?”

“Two men.” He tossed the gun back onto the table. “I was walking home and one came at me with a knife and the other with a gun. They’re from the Sicari. What the hell is the meaning of this?”

The man cast another look at the weapon on the table before rubbing his temples, obvious agitation beginning to show up. “You really think we sent them, Kim Jongdae?”

Jongdae didn’t reply. At his silence, he laughed sharply, reached for the gun on his table and then slipped it into his drawer. “Look, the Sicari isn’t stupid enough to send even a group of people after you. Two men armed with a knife and a gun? They were obviously planning this themselves, and they were fools to do so. And why are you so worried? They’re both dead, aren’t they?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then you tell me what the point is?” Secretary Jo tilted his head at him, and Jongdae swallowed the wave of anger steadily rising. He was already getting on his nerves. “This attack has nothing to do with the Sicari. Why do you think they targeted you? They’re jealous. They saw someone who earned a significant amount more than them, got more hits—and they thought they could get rid of you too and no one would know. Wouldn’t that be the most likely case?”

He grit his teeth. “Learn to control your employees, then.”

“Would you say you’re under control?”

Jongdae stiffened. “Do not bring—”

“Listen up,” he interrupted, a truly cold edge in his tone that made Jongdae freeze. There was no visible anger on his face, but the underlying threat that Jongdae could always tell was there had come up again, and, like every time, the mention made him nervous. “I don’t like your attitude right now. Two people tried to attack you and they’re from the Sicari? Get over it. It’s not like anyone can hurt you anyway, and if there’s any property damage, we’ve made sure you’re rich enough that it wouldn’t matter. If you want to be petty about it, file the charges and I’ll pay for whatever they’ve ruined. But don’t walk into my office and do…” He waved his hand around. “...this. Unless you’ve forgotten what the consequences are?”

Unless you’ve forgotten what the consequences are? Would you say that you’re under control? He blinked in anger, still unmoving, because he knew very well what the threatened consequences would be and just how exactly they had him under perfect control. He avoided talking to Secretary Jo every time and followed every instruction just because of it, and, combined with what had happened the night before, it made Jongdae furious.

He stood in the same spot, clenching his fists and trying to swallow down his temper that was steadily rising. He was rarely threatened so directly—it wasn’t even mentioned, because they all knew, but if Secretary Jo was irritated enough with him to say it that way…

“Jongdae?” the man asked. “Am I understood?”

White hot rage spilled over. “Understood what?”

Secretary Jo frowned. “Understood that you will not come back here causing anymore trouble of the kind like this, and if you do—”

“You’ll kill my family?” he guessed.

The other man started, ready to stay something, but Jongdae cut in. “What do you think will happen if you tried that?”

He opened his mouth, couldn’t seem to find an answer, looking slightly frightened for once, then snapped it shut instead. Jongdae stepped forward slightly so he was right in front of the desk. He unfurled his fist slowly, took his hands out of his pockets and yanked off the black gloves before tossing them onto the desk. “I’ll destroy this place,” he grit out. “If you ever lay a hand on them, I’ll make sure I burn this whole building to the ground.” He leaned forward. Part of him was half-tempted to just reach over a bit more—one touch was all it took and Secretary Jo would be dead—but he managed to refrain. “All this that you’ve worked for and built—I’ll have it all destroyed until there’s nothing left and then I’ll kill every single one of you.”

Secretary Jo opened his mouth. He was visibly trembling, but somehow, he still managed out, “You can’t.”

“Do you really think that?” Jongdae growled back, for once too angry to care. “Or have you forgotten what I’m capable of because I’ve been your puppet for so many years? That’s the real foolish move here.”

He stepped back. The wave of fury was beginning to subside, but he still wasn’t nearly calm enough for the regret to sink in yet. He snatched his gloves back from the table. “I won’t act out of line,” he said. “Given that you don’t either. Watch your other employees. If they’re going to attack me and hold up a gun from your company, then take the responsibility for it.”

He t