The bar was dirty, dark smoke coiling through the air and against the ceiling from the numerous cigars clutched between drunken fingers. The floor was littered with cigarette butts, shreds of paper and god knows what else, sticky with spilt alcohol and what could possibly be blood.

 

Yukwon eyed the man from his place at the bar, ignoring the rowdy, drunken shouts of the group of men to his right. It was too loud in here- too loud, too dark, too small, and definitely not somewhere he would go be choice. He had no other option, though, he was here on business; business that included the recipient of his watchful gaze.

 

He watched as the pot-bellied, middle aged man relaxed in the corner of a booth, his cheap polyester work shirt undone at the first three buttons and tie hanging loosely around his shoulders. Yukwon sighed to himself; these men were all the same. They entered a scene, ed around a bit, and left, not caring for the damage they'd done. They were the city's protectors, but the city's downfall, too. That's why they had to go.

 

Yukwon pushed himself up from his place at the bar, confident in getting his work finished early for tonight. He didn't even have to think about this one, it was far too easy.

 

As he approached his target, Yukwon began stumbling slightly, blinking rapidly as if he really was drunk. Letting out a small sigh, he settled himself on the edge of the booth's table, running a hand clumsily though his hair. He heard the man make a disgruntled sound behind him, and turned around, making sure his body looked heavy and weary.

 

"Sorry, man." Yukwon added a slight slur to the words. He needed to be slightly drunk, not completely inebriated. The target would never take his seriously if he over-acted. "Just needed a sit down for a second."

 

Yukwon turned back, not caring for the man's reply.

 

And so the game begins.

 

Over the timescale of a minute, Yukwon eased himself off the table and onto the couch opposite his prey, lolling his head back as if it he was too dizzy to keep it upright. Out of the corner of his eye, he found that his target was no longer watching him, and was staring intently at the beer clutched in his hand instead. Yukwon scrutinised him, watching the slight slump of his shoulders, the way his eyes kept darting from his bottle, to the door, and back again. He was nervous, he was sad, he knew he'd screwed up. The target was vulnerable, and this was Yukwon's time to strike.

 

He brushed his hand once more through his red hair, before lifting his head again and focusing his eyes on the policeman. This movement startled the target slightly, and he looked up at Yukwon with wary eyes. Yukwon just smiled lazily, easing the man with a facade of drunken sleepiness, and watching as his prey subconsciously dropped a hand to the table. From here, Yukwon could see the other man's wallet dangling out of the pocket of his jacket, which was slung across the seat, and decided that a little extra money couldn't hurt if he was getting paid for this anyway.

 

"I'll tell you what," Yukwon began, waiting until the silent cop's eyes had focused solely on him. Smiling, Yukwon dragged a pack of playing cards out of his pocket, and spread them out on the table. He glanced back up at his target. "How about we play a little game?"

 

He watched as the middle-aged man eyed the cards on the table, leaning forward on his elbows so that he was closer to Yukwon.

 

"What kind of game?" God, the man was more inebriated than he'd thought. His voice slurred, messy and low, and his mouth was set in a hard line.

 

Yukwon just flashed another one of his infamous smiles. He was a charmer, really, that's how he worked. Yukwon pulled out all four aces and one jack from the pile, before pocketing the rest. He lay them out, face-up, on the table in front of the man.

 

"This one normally goes badly for me." He lied, ducking his head sheepishly. Make them think they have a chance, make them think they can't lose.

 

The prey continued staring down at the cards, gesturing slightly for Yukwon to continue.

 

"I'm going to turn these over and shuffle them, and all you have to do is pick one. If it's an ace, then you win. If it's the jack, then I win. Like I said, this normally goes badly for me." Yukwon chuckled again as he explained, sliding the cards closer to the cop. He was a policeman, even while drunk, he knew what he was doing.

 

The man slowly picked the cards up, turning them over and over checking for validity. Once he was satisfied, he handed them back over.

 

"Okay, let's play."

 

Yukwon grinned. He'd caught him already.

 

It started slowly, the policeman only betting small amounts of money. Yukwon paid him duly, looking with slight sadness at the money coming out of his own wallet. It didn't matter though; he'd have it back by the end of tonight, plus interest.

 

The target won. They played again, he won again. This continued, money gradually increasing as the man become more and more confident. Now, it was onto step three.

 

"Right." Yukwon began. The man looked at him expectantly, patting his now bulging wallet. "I need to go and run an errand for a bit, but why don't we pick this back up after?"

 

The man paused, before nodding with a smirk. "Sure, man."

 

Yukwon let his eyes wander to the door, feeling the man's do the same, and waiting for his target's alcohol-soaked brain to catch up with him. At the hurried, "Wait!", Yukwon turned back to face him.

 

The man looked worried.

 

"How about we finish this game at my place?"

 

Yukwon almost laughed; that was almost script-perfect. How many times had he heard that now? Damn, these cops really were too predictable. Too scared, too worried about their reputation to be seen gambling seriously outside or in a bar.

 

"Yeah, okay." The redhead agreed, shrugging nonchalantly as he slipped the five cards back into his pocket before standing up. The man scribbled his address down on a dirty napkin, handing it to Yukwon who smiled once before leaving.

 

This really was going to be easy, huh.

 

-------

 

One hour later, Yukwon arrived at the poor cops house, knocking heavily on the dilapidated door. This man lived alone in a detached house. Briefly, Yukwon wondered why his Boss hyungs were being so nice to him with this one, before the door swung open and he was ushered in with a grunt.

 

The two men settled in the living room, cards spread on the coffee table in front of them. He could cut the whole thing short right now, if he wanted too. There was really no way Yukwon was coming out of this situation as the loser, but he had never been one for just 'taking'. No, Yukwon liked to win his battles; watching the despair on the targets face as they lost everything.

 

The game continued eagerly, the cop becoming more and more cocky as he won more and more money. Slowly, the amount he gambled was increasing, the poor man truly believing that he was invincible.

 

₩50 was bet

 

A win for the target.

 

₩100 was bet.

 

A win for the target.

 

₩1000 was bet.

 

A win for the target.

 

Yukwon decided to put the penultimate stages of his plan into progress.

 

"You're too good at this." He pouted, suppressing the urge to gag at the target's booming, hiccuping laugh. "But I'll tell you what. How about, this time, we bet a million on it?"

 

The man stopped laughing and frowned, but Yukwon had him now. This guy was one of the top police on the force in this area, and was actually infamous around the backstreets for boasting about his income. Of course he had one million won, and of course he was going to gamble it.

 

"Okay." The man's eyes flashed onto the cards in front of him, then to Yukwon's near-empty wallet lying next to it. The redhead gave a smirk.

 

He shuffled, laid them out, and the man chose with a self-assured laugh.

 

But when Yukwon turned it over, the pompous face of the jack greeted him, and the laugh transformed into an enraged yell.

 

"WHAT?!"

 

He wasn't going to say that people were fools, but... yeah, people were fools. They got scammed and cheated out of cash far too easily. Yukwon stood, taking back his cards and wallet and pocketing them again. However, his hand lingered there this time, fingers running over smooth metal.

 

"Pay up," Any trace of his act was gone now, and the signature 'The Cat' smirk was firmly in place. "Or I'll make you pay."

 

He saw the man's eyes widen, darting to where Yukwon's arm was still behind his back. The cop's hand slowly inched to where his handgun would be on his belt, but his fingers ended up fruitlessly scraping at the plastic holster. The gun had been removed hours ago, when the man was dazed and heavily drunk, and Yukwon was prepared.

 

The Cat followed as the policeman shakily got to his feet, keeping a steady pace behind him as he trudged up the stairs. Turning into a bedroom, the prey opened a drawer and pulled out a wad of bills. Stupid policeman, too worried about identity fraud to keep the majority of his cash in a bank.

 

Yukwon took the money, slipping it inside his jacket pocket, before he turned deftly and pulled out his beloved gun. The cop staggered back, legs hitting the bed-frame and almost collapsing under him, and The Cat laughed as he saw the now-sober man begin to tremble.

 

"Honestly, I've had a lot of fun tonight." Yukwon admitted. "You've been perfect, believe me."

 

The man's eyes were glassy with fear, darting from the end of the gun to Yukwon's face. He let out a shaking breath.

 

"W-who are you?"

 

Yukwon laughed again, flicking the safety catch off the gun causing the policeman to gulp.

 

"They call me The Cat-"

 

He flexed his finger over the trigger, watching wide, bloodshot eyes follow the small movement.

 

"-so I guess that makes you the mouse."

 

He savoured the look of sheer terror on the middle-aged man's face, before grinning and pulling the trigger.

 

A loud bang, a low scream, and a flash of blood.

That was all that happened before Yukwon sauntered calmly out of the derelict building and back into the fresh night air.

 

He knew he'd get caught one day, and he knew it definitely wasn't going to be pleasant, but all of this was too fun to stop.

 

He was a hitman; an assassin, if you will. It had it's ups and downs, but, as Kim 'The Cat' Yukwon thought about the pay he was about to receive, he decided that there really was no other life for him.