See? What did I tell you guys? I told you I promise to update as much as I could, right? And what do you know? Here I am again, back with a new one! 

Do you guys like the new poster I made? Ahhh I'm so happy with it. Now it looks like a legitimate story~ ;)

Anyways, keep those comments coming! You have no idea how happy they make me. Enjoy this chapter as we all dive a little deeper into Seunghyun's secret life! <3  (The setting can be viewed for easier imagining! Just click the hyperlinked text in the story! ^_^ Have fun!)

SARANGHAE~ ! 

Ever since Seunghyun broke the news to me a couple of minutes ago, my face just had a permanent confused look on its features. He excused the two of us out from the conference room where his four friends, or should I say- mafia brothers were and led me out into an outdoor patio, overlooking the infinity pool and the view from up the cliff.

My mind wandered out as I sat on one of the sofa chairs situated on the balcony, eyes scanning the view of the forest that surrounded his estate.

What the heck is happening?

That was the first question that came into my mind, above every other inquiry that was buzzing through my head at the moment- everything happened so fast that I was, and still am, not able to process what I had managed to get myself into.

Ryu Sera, you’re a magnet for danger and disaster.

The inner voice in my head exclaimed, making me slap my forehead repeatedly as a sign of rebuking myself.

“You ah.. You okay there?” Of course, it would only take Seunghyun and his deep, hoarse voice to free me out of the prison that was my mind. I looked up at him, eyes following as he sat on the chair in front of me, discarding his linen shirt on the couch beside him and crossing his legs, his signature puncturing gaze settled on me.

“I’m... I don’t know where to start.” It was true, I had so many questions that I did not know where to begin and what kind of quesitons to ask.

A laugh erupted from his chest, he then tilted his head in a slanted angle, “You’re adorable, you know that?” He pointed, making my cheeks heat up instantly. “But alright, let’s see. I’ll make it easier for you, hmm?” Reaching forward, he grabbed the mug that was sitting on the coffee table in front of the both of us, sipping from the tea that was readily available inside it. “You know this, you’ve heard of us, right? Seven star mob... Chil Sung Pa..” He started off, as if he was some kind of narrator for a children’s book, I was only able to nod my head.

“Well, whatever you heard when you were a kid- All of it....” He pursed his lips, putting the mug back down in a modish way. “All of it is true.” He chimed in, another laugh escaping his lips. “We’re the biggest mafia group in Korea, and most of East Asia. My father, Jiyong’s father, all of those men inside that room back there, all of our fathers were part of the seven founding fathers of the mafia group.”

My mouth dropped, no wonder they’ve known each other since they were little.

Seunghyun paused for a moment, perhaps it was to let me take in all of the information he’s been dishing out. “We’re an organized crime group, I’m not proud to say that. We focus on weapon sales, money laundering, sometimes illegal drug distribution.” He continued, his eyes studying my expression as if to gauge what kind of reaction I was giving him.

“Okay, go on.” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back on the chair in the most casual manner I could come up with, I had to admit- I was still in a state of stupefaction, but I tried not to let it show any further and focused on him and his story.

His eyebrows raise at the same time, “You’re handling this better than I expected. Alright, I’ll go on.. Well, see. Dae, Bae and Ri’s fathers are all in jail- a private jail on a private island, but they can’t do much from there. Jiyong’s father is... dead. Which leaves two more founding fathers, right? One of them was captured not too long ago, and was brought to where my friends’ fathers are. To be honest with you.. that “jail” ” Seunghyun stressed, making air quotation marks with his hands, “Is not really a jail- it’s more of a retirement home, really.” He snorted childishly, causing me to laugh as well.

“But what about your father?”

“He’s... ill, as you know. And when he fell ill, he took it as a sign to appoint us five as the new leaders. We were after all, to inherit this eventually.”

I pursed my lips as I organized my thoughts, there was still a lot of questions on my mind, but I decided to take it slow. “What about the law? Aren’t you guys scared of the police?” My eyes filled with worry at the thought of them getting in trouble with the instruments of the law.

“Please, kitten.” Seunghyun let out another laugh, a bit dismissive this time and as if I uttered something so ridiculous and impossible. “They know how much fire power and how much people we have around Seoul and the country, they can’t touch us even if they wanted to.” He said, shrugging his shoulders.

With a small nod, I accepted his answer and shifted in my seat, leaning my body forward. “But where does this leave me, boss? What purpose do I serve?”

“You’ll be the queen.” He murmured straight to the point, lips curling into a grin.

“I’m sorry?” I didn’t quite understand what he meant by that, by this time my eyes were round and big as I stared back.

He snickered, “What I mean is that, you’ll be doing what you’ve been doing for me the past few months... Except this time, instead of recording stock prizes and jotting down minutes of business meetings, you’ll be in charge of making sure all our weapons and goods are safe and getting to the right places. You’ll be working here. This is your office now." He raised his palms up, as if offering the whole mansion to me. "You’ll make it easier for me too because it’ll be more convenient to teach you how it all goes when you’re living here.”

Living... With.. Seunghyun. The thought alone made me gulp hard, “H-here? I have to.. Get my clothes and all of that.. goodness. I d-don't think I can stay--”

Seunghyun wagged his finger in front of him to stop me from talking further, “Aniya, not until I’ve secured your apartment. You’re basically a valuable asset now, you need to be protected.”

I opened my mouth to speak but decided against it, letting him win this time.

“I’ll get all your clothes and some new ones, even. I’ll have it brought here, alright? For now, I need you to stay here with me. The next few months will be busy, we have a lot of new recruits- which means more groups... Clusters, if you will.”

“And.. how many members do you have as of this date?” My curiosity carried on, making me ask more inquiries.

“30,000 here in the country alone. But we have members who are scattered all over the world.” He replied nonchalantly, as if it was nothing.

“Thirty th-- Omona.” My jaw dropped once again, for the hundredth time that day. It was amazing how he could manage to run everything so smoothly and run a real estate mega-business all at the same time.

“Hmm, yes. We’re not all bad though, you know? We mostly take in orphaned boys and the like, those who have nowhere to go, our actions may be bad, but I assure you our intentions are never evil. We help people, we fund some government projects here and there as well, all under anonymity of course. I’ll explain everything as we go on, alright? For now, just enjoy your tea, please.” He urged, or more like, commanded.

Doing as he instructed as per usual, I took it as a sign to keep quiet, as thoughts about what I’ve gotten myself into resurfaced once more.

------

I’ve been working with Seunghyun for about a week now, and I must say, I’ve been coping well. Everyday, my routine would be- waking up early, taking advantage of the amenities in the Choi mansion and getting my grind on at the gym, eating breakfast with Seunghyun and then proceeding to my new office (which he had made personally for my use) over at the other wing of the house, making sure all orders were reaching their destinations through trackers installed in my laptop and finally, at the end of each day, I'd go for a midnight swim to relax and unwind as I'm mostly alone until late at night. One could say I was living the life, but I know the danger of my situation.

Truthfully though, I'm more at peace to know that Seunghyun has my back.

I was going through the daily order forms when my phone rang and buzzed simultaneously, I sighed as my phone’s screen showed my best friend’s name and a picture of the two of us in the background, I’ve been avoiding her calls for the whole week- unsure of what to tell her. I contemplated on whether or not I should give her a chance and actually pick up, but as usual, I decided not to push through with it.

Just in time, my boss entered the big office I had for myself, causing me to stand up and bow respectfully. “Hi, I was just browsing through the Busan cluster. Everything’s getting there safe.”

Seunghyun, who was donning a suit and looking breath-taking as always was busy fiddling with his bowtie while he made his way to my table, his gaze pointed down to see if he was doing it correctly and his mouth pouted. “I need help.” He murmured giving up, smiling sheepishly up at me and letting go of the small piece of black cloth. "You think even after wearing countless bowties I'd be an expert at it by now, aish."

I shook my head, how can someone be so y and cute all at the same time? Walking up to him, I began tying the bow as neatly as I could with my delicate touch, I could feel the weight of his stare for a short while and it almost caused me to shrivel up out of bashfulness, but my phone’s ringtone and incessant buzzing caused him to glance over past my shoulder and to the table behind me.

“Kyungri-ssi calling again?” He asked plainly, and I nodded in the same way.

“Why don’t you answer her calls?”

“And tell her what, hmm? That I’m living here with you and working as a secretary for the Seven Star Mob?” I shot a glare over to him quickly, before working on the task in front of me, tying the bow diligently.

“Aish, sorry to have put you in this situation.” He shook his head, his tone was sincere as it could go.

“Too late for that, Seunghyun.” I murmured casually, letting his name casually roll of my tongue, which earned a deep kind of laugh from him. “There. All done. Where are you off to?” I asked inquisitively.

“One of dad’s balls for his legitimate business. You know how they go. I’m going to be so bored... I know it.” A grin playing on his perfectly crafted lips, “You want to come? Save me from being mobbed by old men and women,? Hmm, be my date?” He asked as casual as casual can be.

My eyes enlarged. “What?” I asked once more, trying to verify what he had just said.

His hand hovered over my head, ruffling my hair and effectively disheveling it. “Ha, nevermind. Don’t wait up, alright? I’ll be back. See you tomorrow, kitten.” With a charming wink, he pivoted around on his heel and made his way out the door, leaving me speechless as always.