Zodiac

DH´s POV

The smell of rust and mould mixed with the heavy reek of male sweat. That´s the smell of prison in June over here. It´s dirty and it´s certainly a punishment to be here. And if you are not privileged, in the meaning of being the strongest, the most violent or the scariest, you are hanging on a loop here. That´s what I was thinking while watching the newcomer. The guard was walking slowly in the isle of cells, trying to look superior, by all means failing, in front of him was trotting a young man, almost a boy nervous to death.

“Give him to mine!” Everyone came to take a look at the newbie and finding out it was a pretty boy, they began whistling, reaching out to him through the bars. The young one tried to avoid everyone and by chance our eyes met, big brown eyes. Even the eye contact was exciting.

“I´m lonely, come on!” A dirty hand grabbed his sleeve and the brown eyes closed tightly in fright.

“That´s enough!” I roared. My voice quieted the crowd down, this is what I mean when I talk about the privileges of the strongest.

“What is it, Bull?” The guard asked, even he stopped walking.

“The boy goes here,” I gestured to my cell that was currently occupied only by me. For various reasons. The guard thought for a bit but when my face remained stern, he decided that the safest way for him would be to comply. Pushing the newcomer towards my cell, he unlocked the door and shoved him inside.

“Try to not kill Hyukjae in three weeks, he still has a chance to get bailed out,” the guard grumbled, sighing about losing his own pray to the Bull. And then the inmates began whistling and lowkey booing but I paid that no attention.

“So, Hyukjae,” I grinned, sending shockwaves through the lithe man. Hyukjae was standing all the way back, stuck to the wall, looking at his feet. He was gulping dryly, probably intelligent enough to understand the situation. Stupid kids cried or fought; this one was trying to calm down. I wasn´t the brightest crayon in the box but I knew how to read people.  I knew Hyukjae wasn´t going down but at the same time he had only one possibility to survive and that one was humiliating and painful. Or so I thought.

I walked slowly to him, trying to make him even more nervous, to make him break down in tears. Hyukjae was unlucky, waking up the sadistic side of me. When I was practically breathing into his face, he opened his eyes and found himself staring into my chest. His eyes then widened, and he looked up at me, his soft long hair falling over his forehead.

“How do they call you?” He asked and didn´t seem as timid anymore. I cleared my throat, the resonating sound making him successfully uneasy again.

“Bull,” I answered with a snicker, “I barge right head in, so make sure you don´t piss me off or you´re done for.” But Hyukjae raised his hand and pointed it to my chest, he pressed his white long finger into the large zodiac sign tattoo peeking out of the opened uniform.

“Your probable age, moniker, character and this,” Hyukjae reasoned, looking into my eyes, “you are Taurus”. He stated flatly and confidently, but quietly enough to be heard only by me and nobody else.

And I closed my lips and made a bit of space between our bodies so I could let it sink. These big brown eyes were smarter and more confident from the close proximity than they had seemed from afar. Yes, I was Taurus, one of the 12 leading members of a secret organisation called Zodiac. This was my territory, one of the reasons why I was this safe in this prison. I climbed up the ladder with strength and unwavering loyalty. I have been Taurus for six years already. But Hyukjae isn´t one of my men, I would have known if he was. Which means…

“Who´s person are you?” I asked him, making sure I didn´t look threatening. If he was a part of Zodiac, I would be on a thin ice, using violence on another Zodiac leader´s underdog.

“Right now?” Hyukjae sighed, “nobody´s.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Patient, be patient.

“I used to be under Scorpio,” Hyukjae told me with a long sigh, showing me a small discreet tattoo of his own sign on his foot. I see, Scorpio recently deceased. Probably this is why this short fellow ended up in prison and in the wrong territory too, where his part of the organisation couldn´t protect him. Usually, the organisation keeps their members out of correctional facilities, I went to prison as a leader on purpose, to cover some other more serious issues. In five weeks, I´m out anyway. Thinking about this, once I leave, this tiny guy is dead.

“I get it, I will watch over you before you get out,” I announced patting his shoulder.

“Thank god,” Hyukjae sighed, “I don´t believe in coincidences, though.” He ended up in the same prison as me, after all.

“It probably isn´t but I wasn´t told anything about you, what are you here for?” I asked leisurely and went to sit down on the lower bunk bed. Hyukjae was strolling around, not comfortable enough to climb up on his bed. Nothing weird about it, there were obviously holes in the mattress with dark red , signifying that the person lying above was stabbed by the person lying below. Things happened in this cell but I wasn´t any longer interested in terrifying the latter.

“Manslaughter,” Hyukjae answered coldly, “in the end I got only manslaughter.”

“Seriously,” I laughed heartfully. Well, Hyukjae was a part of the organisation, I couldn´t let his looks deceive me. My men were threatening just from their looks, aggressive, strong spirited and had superb fighting skills. Skorpio´s men, in the contrast, were white collars, they rarely used violence and when they did, their signature mark was poisoning. I would have to be careful, my smile faded. Maybe it´s really not a coincidence that we met here. Maybe this cute little pawn is here to kill me. No, it can´t be. It´s Zodiac after all.

Our organisation is strangely unknown, considering that our fingers are in every business, in every territory. The basics are loyalty. I have never heard of a betrayal, anyone ratting out members to the police. Just as it´s forbidden to attack another Zodiac leader´s underdogs. Fights in your territory are allowed though, then it´s for the leader to keep control. So my deduction is that no, Hyukjae is not here to kill me, he´s probably here to get my protection when there is no Scorpio leader at the moment.

Keeping an eye on Hyukjae turned out to be very easy. The latter never provoked fights, kept himself under my nose and all in all was just a quiet fellow. But I was a beast deep down inside and my senses were telling me to not let my guard down. At the same time, I was working on getting the guy out of prison before myself. There were a few strings that I could possibly pull and money I could transfer on various accounts until I got a call that the next day, my person would come and pick Hyukjae up.

“Listen to me,” I told him sternly. He knew what my tone meant, solemnly leaning against the same cell wall as his first day here. “Tomorrow, you will be called out by a guard, this is where we part ways.”

“Tomorrow?” His usually expressionless face was now bright, and he was barely holding his happiness. “I can´t believe it!”

“Yeah,” I nodded, trying to look cool, holding back a grin, “I need you to understand that you owe me big time.”

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