In order to get them more comfortable, you had Jun and Minghao do some work around the estate. Minghao was still recovering but he mostly stayed in the garage with Vernon looking over the cars. You figured it would be useful having someone who was knowledgeable about cars working in the right area. Jun on the other hand bounced between members of your syndicate. If he wasn't training with Seungcheol, he was in the garage with Minghao, and some days you would see him loading supplies with Wonwoo and Mingyu.

Currently, You and Jihoon were looking over the map of the Seoul districts on the projection screen. You could see Jun watching with curious eyes from chair in a corner of the room. Jihoon was annoyed with his constant questions and placed as far away as the room would let him, so he would be less of an distraction.

“How is he supposed to help you from way over there?” You say to Jihoon.

“I can't focus when he keeps asking questions about everything.” Jihoon rubs his temples, clicking a few buttons on his computer before the map is colored with different colors.

“What are the highlighted parts?” Jun questioned, despite the distance.

Jihoon turns in his chair the glare at Jun, before he turns to you with a “you see.”

You couldn't help but smile at Jihoon’s irritated expression, you haven't seen him this worked up in a while.

“These are the districts that we have control over,” you say as you point to the highlighted part of the map. You click a few more buttons on Jihoons keyboard lighting up the map with various colors, “While each color represents every syndicate that operates in Seoul.”

“There's so many.” Jun says in awe, “What syndicate is this?” Jun points to the area he knew as home.

You looked at the screen, the red color glaring at you off the screen. There was a time when your syndicate had districts on both ends of the Han River but Gong’s new fighter has helped him gain most of the northern districts now, “That's Gong’s Syndicate. His new fighter seems to be knocking out syndicates left and right.”

“Are we going to fight them?” Jun questions.

“No.” Jihoon replied quickly, dismissing the idea with a shake of the head, “I think our best bet would be to stay away from Gong and focusing on these syndicates here and continue south of the Han River.”

“Sounds good to me.” You rub Jihoon’s head, “I'll head out to the next spot now.”

Jihoon pats down his hair, turning in his chair “Are you going alone?”

You raise your eyebrow, “Yeah, Josh is working in Gangdong-gu right now.”

“Why don't you take him with you,” Jihoon points to Jun, “I don't need him here.”

Jun is surprised at first, but looks to you eager for a chance to get outside and do something, “I'll come with you.”

You nod your head, “Let's go”

---------------------------------------

 

The car ride was quiet for the most part other than the multiple scenarios that played through your head. Most negotiations ran smoothly but there had been a few in the past that resulted with a few guns and knives pointed at you. Luckily you always had Joshua to smooth things over when it got to that point. But not tonight. Jun was in the passenger seat watching the passing cityscape.Since he joined your syndicate this will be his first time out of the estate, let alone his first negotiation. As you glanced at the man in the passenger seat a handful of scenarios with Jun played through your mind. Before your imagination could cause your worry to rise, you were pulled from your thoughts as Jun spoke.

“Do you guys deal weapons or drugs?” Jun’s voiced, causing you to swerve a little.

“What?” your eyes mirroring his confusion.

“When I was with Wonwoo and Mingyu they had me load trucks with crates and boxes but they wouldn't tell me what was inside them. So I was trying to guess what was inside.” Jun clarified his previous question.

You shake your head, “We don't deal weapons or drugs.”

“But you're mafia.” He looks at you with questionable look, “In the movies it's either weapons, drugs, or extortion.”

You couldn't blame his reason, the movies always portrayed any form of underground organization being involved with that sort of crime, “You're using movies as your resource?”

Jun nods his head “I didn't even think the mafia really existed until I met you.”

You assure him, “I'm sure some of the other syndicates are involved with that stuff, but we try to keep that sort of business out of our territory. Believe me they cause more problems than what it's worth.”

“So what do you guys do?” He questioned.

You think for a moment before explaining, “I guess you could say we are more business orientated. We make our money through purchasing some businesses and working with the tenants. But we don't rely on extortion, we want people to trust us.”

“And why do you guys use fighters?” The questions didn’t seem like they would end, but you didn’t blame him. If you were in his situation you too would have an arsenal of questions.

“Jihoon wasn’t kidding about you asking questions.” You joked.

Jun let out a soft apology before you continue, “You remember the chaos that happened a few years ago. It was a kill or be killed type of world.”

You sighed as you recalled the state your world was in, “A few years ago, things just … spiraled out of control. And because of that a lot of people died, both civilians and syndicate members. So the higher ups organized this new fighter system to help bring some sort of order.”

“Do the cops know what's going on?” He asked after a moment.

“They are aware of how we do things now and they’re always keeping tabs on the major syndicates since they’re worried about another gang war breaking out.” you put on a small smile, “But for now everything seems to be somewhat peaceful.”

------------------------------------------------

 

You parked your car on the street and headed in the direction of the market, you turn to look at Jun, “Jihoon wanted me to scout the place if there is anything worth investing.” You took a moment to look around before continuing, “This market seems like a popular spot.”

“Yea, it reminds me of Dongdaemun-gu,” Jun says sadly.

“Come on let's keep looking around, we still got time before we need to meet up for the negotiation.” You say, in an attempt to try and cheer Jun up.

You and Jun pass by an alleyway and you hear a bit of comotion not far from you. You see in front of you a homeless man being harassed by some thugs, pushing and shoving him into one of the darker alley ways. As much as you wanted to help him, you knew it would cause more trouble for your syndicate.

“Whatcha lookin at pretty boy.” One of thugs spat toward Jun

Jun stood firm as you tried to pull him away from the scene, “ Come on, we shouldn't get involved.”

Jun finally started to move, and you continued your way toward your destination thinking that you were able to convince him.

You check your phone for the address, wanting to be sure, “I think we are almost there”

You were expecting some sort of response but you were greeted with silence. You turn around and see that Jun is nowhere in sight.

“Dammit” you mutter, thinking you should have kept a closer eye on him.

You start backtracking your steps weaving through the crowd, knowing Jun was likely to head back to help the man. It took a moment before you found Jun heading toward the alley. You run faster trying to catch up. You make it to the alleyway and slow down, assessing what is going to happen. You notice Jun grabs a trashcan a sneaks his way towards the thugs. You decide to back Jun up with what he is doing and grab a sheet laying on the ground following after him. You make eye contact with the homeless man, bringing a finger to your lips, a sign to stay quiet.

You watch as Jun lifts the trash can over his head, and places it over one of the thugs heads. Before the second thug could turn to look at Jun, you throw the sheet over their head. Jun was shocked to see you there, but regains himself fast enough to shove the two thugs to the ground. The homeless man scurries away, and you grab Jun’s hand. You pull him in tow as you quickly run out of the alley and into the crowded streets.

“That was a close one,” you say as you pull Jun along toward your destination, “You can't be getting into trouble because it will cause more issues for us.” You continued to rant about the problems he could of caused.

Jun just smiled at you bringing your joined hands up “We make a great team though”. He smiles brightly, and for a moment you lost your train of thought. Only for a moment though.

You scoff at him playfully punching his shoulder, “Dragging me into one of your street brawls, you're supposed to be the fighter not me.” Despite it all, you smile, “Come on we're almost there.” You continue to walk towards your destination, holding his hand, half out of caution.

------------

You walk through back alley ways, a network that would have anyone lost if they didn’t know what they were looking for. Knowing what to look for, you found your way to a small bar tucked in the back.

You and Jun enter it, as you hope the briefing you gave Jun would be enough to keep him from causing too much trouble.

“What can I get you?” a man from the bar asks.

“We are looking for Youngjae” You answer, as you watch the man nod to someone sitting in one of the stolls. You follow their lead, Jun following closely behind. The weave you through the bar and bring you to a booth.

You hear someone chuckle in the booth, they motion for you to sit with them, “So what brings the Lee's out here to this side of town?”

“You know the usual.” You slide into the booth, Jun following after you “Let's get down to business. Join up with us.”

“Ah come on y/n we just settled down here, what's the rush to kick us out. We want control over this district. Plus I heard your fighter got quite the beating, you’re gonna let us use him as a punching bag or something.” Youngjae says.

“Something like that. We're willing to wager Gangdong-gu.” You answer, keeping your face straight in order to give nothing away

“Now you're yanking my chain y/n.” He scoffs as he folds his hands in front of him.

“If you win we'll give you full access on our side of the Han River as well. No strings attached.” You simply wager, hoping that the bait is enough to get a bite.

There's a phone ring, and Youngjae answers his phone, then Youngjae hands you the phone, in the other end you hear a deep voice answer, “I'm listening.”

 

---Back at the syndicate---

 

“Seungkwan happened to record some of that brawl between you and those thugs and showed it to us. But in the ring it's a whole different world,” Seungcheol points playfully at Jun, “You my friend were lucky. The real training starts now.”

S.coups starts lifting up hitting pads, flinching in pain due to the strain it had on his weakened state.

“Hey! You're still supposed to be taking it easy.” Jeonghan yells as he notices his pain.

“Right.” Seungcheol rolls his shoulder to easy the pain, “Hey man come and help me a bit.”

“I'm not going in there.”Jeonghan quickly denies his request.

“Josh?”Seungcheol, looks all pouty at the man who is next to you.

Joshua sighs in defeat, not able to see anyway out of it, “Alright, what do you need?”

“Hold this up.” Seungcheol hands Joshua the hitting pad. Joshua puts the pad over his hand.

Seungcheol turns back to Jun.“Alright watch me…”

You watch as Jun is focused on learning the moves Seungcheol, “Seungcheol is really buckling down on his training now.”

“We had to give him something to do, other than mope around waiting for you to come back.” Jeonghan says as he watches the injured man, making sure he doesn't over do it.

Jun previously focused eyes spot you next to Jeonghan and he waves to you. You smile and give a small wave back.

Jeonghan raises an eyebrow between the exchange, leaning closer to you with a sly smile, “What happened the other day?”

“What? Jihoon kicked him out of his work room so I just had him come with me to do the negotiation. But now that he is actually going to be in a fight I'm not sure about this.” You say, releasing a sigh.

“Worried about him damaging his face?” Jeonghan jokes.

You playfully push jeonghan, “It's not just that. He’s willingly put himself into this situation without really knowing what's in store for him.” You look back at the man you couldn’t help but feel worried about, “I think he's way over his head.”

-----------------------------

 

To you, it seemed to come so quick. One moment you were watching him practice in the safety of home, and now you were here, with absolutely no control at all.

You sat, keeping your anxious hands busy as you were taping one of Juns hands as Jeonghan worked on the other.

Seungcheol is rehearsing moves with Jun as he also remind him of what to expect when he is in the ring. Jun nods his head, trying to focus on what's being said.

You can hear the crowd roaring behind the door and with each roar Jun seems to become more tense.

“Alright you're good to go.” Jeonghan says as he slaps Jun’s thigh.

“You ready man?” Seungcheol pats his head.

Jun looks hesitant at first, he looks to his fist, then meets your eyes, with a newfound determination.

As soon as you are out the door there's a mixture of cheers and booing erupting from the crowd. You, Jun, Seungcheol, and Jeonghan make your way to the ring side. You watch as Jun enters the ring and makes his way to the center of the ring, his opponent eager to begin.

“This isn't the runway pretty boy” Jun’s opponent starts to size him up, squaring his shoulders, chin lifting up trying to match Jun’s height.

Jun stays silent, having no words for the moment.

You can see that Juns opponent looks visibly irritated by the lack of reaction from him circles around him.

“Let’s get this over with,” Juns opponent charges, tackling Jun to the ground, his fist rising to punch him. Jun is taken by surprise with the sudden start, having little time to block his head from the incoming blow. His opponent hammers away at Jun’s blocks trying to shatter his defense. As his opponent brings both of his fist over his head, Jun has the opening he was waiting for.

Jun throws a right hook to his opponents head, rolling away from under his opponent, standing in the corner near you.

“You good man?,” Seungcheol asks, concerne evident in his question.

Jun nods, brushing his sweaty bangs away from his eyes.

You watch as his confidence slowly fades from his form, his shoulders slumping, and his body caving.

Jun’s reactions become slow like he's second guessing himself and he's barely keeping up with his opponent's punches. When he looks like he's going in for a punch but then switches to a half-hearted kick.

That split second fight with himself causes him to stumble over his feet, his opponent takes that opportunity to bring a right hook to his brow.

The momentum of the punch pushes Jun to the mat. His eyes are shaky, the blood from the cut above his brow is staining his face and the mat below.

His hand reaches for the fencing trying to pull himself up but he keeps missing, his hand drops to the mat. His fist tightening in frustration.

The sight before you has your heart hurting and before you know it you reach your hand through the fencing, your fingers loosening Jun’s. You squeeze his fingers, hoping to give him the confidence you had for him to him.

Jun’s eyes travel from your joined fingers to you. Slowly his eyes become full of life once again, his fingers tightening around yours.

His opponent is done rallying the crowd and his attention is back on Jun, he rolls his shoulders stomping toward Jun ready to finish this fight.

He's just inches away from Jun but Jun doesn't stop holding your gaze.

“Its over pretty boy!” Jun opponent growls as he brings both arms in the air.

Jun does a sweeping kick, and in a flash their roles are reversed with Jun standing tall over his opponent.

His opponent grits his teeth lashing out with punches fueled by his aggression.

Jun steps are more confident, facing his opponent head on, every punch sent towards him is deflected by his blocks and is countered with one of his punches.

His opponents eyes widen in surprise once his back hits the edge of the ring, back bouncing against the fence with every punch Jun sends.

His opponents arms lower, and with heavy arms Jun musters up the last of his strength in one final punch, smashing his fist into his opponents jaw.

His opponent falls to the mat.

Jun is the one left standing on the ring as his opponent is left groaning on the floor. Your group erupts in cheers, as Jun raises his arm up in victory.You all enter the ring, surrounding Jun, cheering for his win, our win.

You make your way through the crowd and head to the locker room.

“Man that last hit was amazing.” Seungcheol says excitedly.

Jun is laughing, but then stumbles, and leans against the wall.

As soon as you see his struggle you are on front of him. “Jun, are you okay?” you ask, worried.

Jun leans his head against the wall his eyes closed. He opens his eyes slightly, nodding slowly. You notice that Jun’s eyes look unfocused, like he is looking at you but not seeing you.

“Jun!” You place your hands on his cheeks, trying to get him to see you, “Jun look at me.”

Juns skin pales and in the next second Jun’s weight doubles as he drops on you, his weight bringing you to your knees, “Seungcheol go get Jeonghan!”

You reposition yourself to let Jun's head rest on your lap.

You watch as Jun tries to keep his eyes open, but his eyelids fall heavy. He has become unconscious.

You hear the rushed steps of your group “What happened?”

Jeonghan looks over Jun, “Luckily for us he just passed out.” He brings his kit to his side, “What a pain, I'll have clean him up here.” Jeonghan opens up his kit, cleaning his wounds and placing bandages over Juns injuries.

“Vernon, Seungkwan bring the car around back. We’re going to have to drag sleeping beauty out of here.” Seungcheol orders the remaining members, “Minghao can you grab his stuff in there.”

Vernon and Seungkwan come back “The car is right outside.”

“Wonwoo, Mingyu can you give me a hand.” you start shifting Jun to lift him up.

“Jeez y/n he didn't crush you.” Wonwoo says with a groan

“Yeah, He weighs a ton.” Mingyu agrees as they both help Jun up and into the car.

You get in the backseat of the car as quick as you can, “Ok I'm ready.” You pull Juns upper half along the backseat. Placing his head in your lap.

Jeonghan and Seungcheol are up front and ready to go.

“You cozy back there?” Jeonghan asks as he takes in your current position.

You didn’t really hear him, as most of your attention was on the man in your lap. You know he was going to be okay and he was only passed out, but that didn’t stop you from counting his inhales, just to insure he was still there. Your eyes come up to his face and you hands trace his new scabs on his face, “You’ve done well, Jun.”