Before Tomorrow

Incredible Things
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Warning:  Possible triggers ahead.  Character death, death, post-mortem changes… I don’t know if these are actually triggering but I just thought I’d put it out there first.  Heavy chapter but  I really suggest you still read everything through. 

KAI’S POV

I’ve heard a lot of groundbreaking things in my life, but what my ears have just heard and my brain has just received shook the ground, tipped empty the ocean, and split the sky into two.  I… am I hallucinating?  Did I just hallucinate what the Royal told me?

I look into the hollow, soulless eyes of a Royal who has been clearly submerged in distress over the last couple of hours.  “W… what?”

“The Joker has been murdered.  He was found dead in his office this morning.” 

.  .  .  I don’t know what else to think, what else to speak, and what else to do.  Sooman is dead.  My uncle, my boss, the only person I had any blood relation with is now dead.  How?

“We have to go now.  His body is still in the medical facility because Ms. Lee had personally requested for it to be kept there until you arrive and see it for yourself.” 

“Ms.  Lee?”  I furrow my brows.

The Royal gives an almost imperceptible nod.  “Lee Sooji.  Lee Sooji is back.”

Lee Sooman is gone, and Lee Sooji is back.  This is too much news at once.  My head feels clogged and light at the same time, and I don’t know if I’m going to pass out or puke—or maybe even both at the same time.  One thing I know for sure:  has just hit the fan and it’s ready to rain down on everyone.

“What’s wrong?”  Suho asks, his instincts picking up quickly.  I’m still to shell-shocked to form a coherent answer so I mutely shake my head. 

“Kai, we have to go.”  Another Royal urges.  “Now.  You and your fellow Aces.  We must act as quickly and discreetly as possible from now on.”

“I got it.”  I answer, finally finding my voice.  Turning to one of the Joker’s men, I bark out a few orders.  “Send my son and his babysitter back to headquarters as quickly as possible.  I want more cars tailing it to make sure everything is safe.”

“Yes, boss.”  The man bows slightly and immediately relays it to his friends. 

I nod at the Royal, indicating I’d go, but first I excuse myself and step away from him to talk to Iseul and Jongguk once more before I leave them. 

Jongguk notices the change in my expression as soon as I turn to face him.  “Appa, do you need to go?”

.  I can’t do this.  I can’t listen to his voice.  It’ll be hell for me to leave if I hear my son ask that question one more time.  Forcing my knees to crouch down to his level, I squeeze his wrists and smile as reassuringly as possible.  “Yes, Guk.  Appa will be back tonight, okay?  Go home and prepare for school.  You have school tomorrow.  Listen to noona.”

“Okay.”

Without waiting for him to say more I push myself up to talk to Iseul.  “I have to go.  Take care of yourselves without me, okay?  I’ll be back tonight.”  I say without looking her in the eye.  Because if I do—if I see the flashing worry in them, I might not be able to leave. 

“Be careful.”  She whispers, her voice reluctant and desperate and sounding like she might cry anytime.  “Please.”

Oh God, no.  No… I can endure this.  I must. 

“I will.”  I answer firmly.  The words feel stuck in my throat and as I force them out I realize one thing:  this could be the last time I can ever see her like this again.  Who knows what will happen today, as soon as I leave her?  What if I end up dead too?  What I die with the last memory of her being how I didn’t even want to look her in the eyes?

.

Stricken by the sudden realization, I allow myself to lift my eyes to meet hers.  And as soon as they do— I feel choked.  Her eyes— I don’t think I’ve ever seen them like this before.  Her eyes are the perfect mirror of what I feel inside—worry, anxiety, and fear—but for all the different reasons.  It’s killing me to know that all this she’s feeling… is for me. 

“Okay.”  She finally says, biting her lip.  The simple action reminds me of how much I want to kiss her… but can’t.  Not right now, not right here.  I settle with holding her hand, an action to which she responds with terse smile.  “Go.”

“Okay.”  I say, squeezing her hand.  “Bye.”

“No, don’t say bye.”  She sharply objects, her eyes quivering.  “’Bye’ makes it sound like you’re never coming back.  Tell me you’re going to come back later.”

“Yah.” I smile tightly, trying to lighten the atmosphere.  I want to tell her that that was stupid, convince her that she’s being over paranoid for nothing.  But it’s not working for me, and the smile isn’t working on her either.

“Kai.”  Iseul whispers, nearly begging.  “Please.  Tell me.”   

My heart feels like it’s been crushed and I feel like I’m killing myself by not kissing all her worries away right then and there.  But I can’t—I can’t do it now.  So instead I nod and allow myself to squeeze her, gently rubbing her palms with my thumb.  This is not enough.  Finally, I give in and allow myself to press her knuckles gently to my lips. 

“Okay.  I’ll see you later, Seo Iseul.”  I promise, spelling out her name clearly for both of us to hear.  I, Kim Jongin, will see her, Seo Iseul, again.  Later.

“Later.” 

With one last attempt of a reassuring smile, I head back to the whole squad of HOC officials.  I nod at them, then at my last standing pillar to lean on in the underground society—my fellow Aces.  “Let’s go.”

 

We split up, just for good measure.  Three and three, accompanied by several Royals in each sleek, black Jaguar SUV.  I go with Suho, D.O., and two other royals— one named Eric Mun and Jun Jin.  On our way to the medical facility, Jun fills us in.

“He was found unconscious in his office this morning, slumped on the chair behind his desk.  We called the medical team—the Healers—at once.  At first, symptoms seemed to mimic that of a cardiac arrest, but about an hour later, after we brought him to the medical facility and conducted closer inspection, Healer Gong Yoo claimed to smell a bitter almond scent from the victim’s mouth, which is a postmortem symptom of cyanide poisoning.”  Jun explained, his voice hard.  I grit my teeth, silently taking it all in.  “A sample of his blood was then collected, and the blood appeared to be almost bluish.  Further test results indeed show the presence of cyanide forming iron complexes in his blood.  Therefore it has been concluded that the cause of the late Joker’s death is cyanide.  Cyanide poisoning.”

“Which type?”  D.O. asks, the only man in the Aces to have sufficient medical knowledge to pose such a question and understand the answer.  “Is it prussic acid?”

Eric looks at D.O. in mild surprise.  “The exact type of the compound is still being tested in the facility, but… how do you know?”

“The symptoms of inhalation of prussic acid mimics that of a heart attack.”  D.O. answers.  “Inhalation.  Which means the cyanide—“

“His inhaler.”  I murmur, looking at Jun.  He nods almost imperceptibly, his whole face grave.  “The cyanide was in his inhaler.” 

“Exactly.”  Eric confirms.  “Someone had tampered with it.  The whole solution inside the tube of his inhaler has been replaced with cyanide.  There was no way he would’ve survived even a puff from that inhaler.”

“They wanted to make sure that he’d be dead.” I conclude.  “Even with just the smallest of a puff.”

“Yes.”  D.O. nods.  “They wanted him dead.”   

“.”  Suho breathes.  “Then it must’ve been an inside job.  Someone who has access to the Joker himself, has been in his office, knows he uses an inhaler, and knows where it’s kept.  And they must also have access to poison, which means… is it one of the Healers at the medical facility?” 

“The medical facility does not store such copious amounts of cyanide—in any form of it.  The medical facility is for treatment, and thus it is forbidden to keep lethal doses of toxic material inside the facility.”  Jun shakes his head.  “Whoever did it most probably received the cyanide from someone outside.”

We sit in silence for a while, taking it all in.  Cyanide.  Poison.  His inhaler.  Now he’s dead, and being dead means nothing can bring him back. 

“Who found him dead?”  I ask.

“Ms. Lee.  Just this morning.” 

“You mean Sooji is the one who found her father dead?”  I rephrase, incredulous.  “She—she just—“

“She must’ve had the shock of her life…” Suho murmurs, shaking his head in disbelief.

“How long has it been since she returned?”

“Just a few days.  The same day you left for Hong Kong, that day she was being initiated.”  Eric replies.  “She got to meet with her father that night.”

“We left for Hong Kong only… five days ago.”  D.O. recalls, calculating with his fingers.  “She… she has only been with her father for… five days.”

D.O.’s right.  Five days.  Five ing days, and not even five whole days too since she found him dead this morning.  That is just too unfair for Sooji.  So unfair.  I suddenly feel a surge of rage coursing through my veins and I can’t take it anymore.  I punch the sit in front of me in frustration, angrily yelling, “!”

“Kai—“

“I’m going to kill the bastard who did this.”  I vow, practically growling now.  “All of them.”

When it comes to the underground society, death is part of our lifestyle.  It occurs every day, everywhere, to everyone.  In this world, I have lost all sympathy for death.  It happens.  But when my childhood friend who was sent to live away from her father for nearly a decade has only returned for 5 days before losing him again, when the last half blood-related person in my life who has taken care of me all these years is taken away from me, when the very pinnacle of power in the HOC is tipped over like this, I will not sit still.  I cannot sit still.  This doesn't only call for sympathy— this calls for vengeance.  Vendetta.  And the person with us is going to get it, served cold.  Messing with us, whoever did this is pretty much asking for death, and I am more than happy to help. 

We'll help."  Suho joins in, his voice firm. "That bastard deserves everything that's coming for him."

"I’m notifying Shanghai."  D.O nods in agreement, already pulling out his phone.  "From this moment on the HOC stands for vendetta."

I nod grimly, feeling wholeheartedly thankful for their presence in my life.  Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without them.  They have always been the closest I've ever known to family, apart from Jongguk, of course, and apart from Sooman.  Goddammit.  Sooman.  He's my uncle, my ing boss, and now he's dead.

It all still seems too surreal to even think about.  My mind floats back to my last meeting with him.  When was it?  Before I left for Hong Kong, probably.  What was it about?

Slowly, snippets of our last conversation together in his office—the last place I saw him alive and the place he died—comes back to me.

He was saying something about… Iseul.  I remember now.  It was just before we left for Hong Kong that nigh.  He had just found out how Iseul knows about my real identity and how I planned to bring her along to the House Meeting with me.  I can hear him again now, he’s against it as always, and he’s saying how I should give Iseul a chance to leave now that she has graduated already, and he said—

“Ask her, Jongin.” 

With that pitying smile that was aggravatingly full of self-confidence. 

“She will leave.”

.  .  Would it have made a difference if I left Iseul at home like he wanted back then?  Would it have, in some unfathomable way the universe works in, saved his life?  Would it at least buy him time? 

Jun glances at me.  “Kai, if you feel guilty—“

“No.”  I shake my head sharply, a hard edge to my voice.  “You don’t understand.  I ended things in a bad way with him.”

Nobody says anything after that.  We sit there in silence, me wallowing in self-loathe and bitterness.  A small thread of regret worms its way into my body—something that never comes often.  But I can’t help it.  I can’t help it today.  I feel like , absolute dip.  Would it have changed anything if I had listened to him back then?  Maybe if I just...

“Would it have changed anything if I listened to him the last time we talked and didn’t bring Iseul and Jongguk to the House Meeting in Hong Kong?” I finally ask out loud, unable to keep it to myself anymore.  “Would it?”

Suho looks at me with confusion and doubt peeping in his face that he tries to hide, even though I see it anyway.  Slowly, he shakes his head, as if trying to convince both himself and me.  “No.  No it wouldn’t.  Even if you left Iseul and Jongguk at home, they wouldn’t have anything to do with the attack.  They wouldn’t be able to protect him either.  If anything, it’ll only lure more people to the HOC— the soft spots in your life being left unguarded like that.  I don’t think it’ll… I don’t think it’ll change anything.”

“Except it would, maybe, for you.”  D.O. quietly speaks up, his round eyes staring ahead at the road as if speaking in a trance.  His deep voice makes the words he’s saying sound a hundred times graver.  “You would’ve ended things in a good note with him.  And you know he would’ve left feeling at least a little more peace with you.  And at least, you wouldn’t be feeling this bad.”

D.O.’s words hang in the air like thick mist, making it suddenly hard to breathe.  But in the suffocating silence, I realize he’s right.  Damn it.

“.”  I whisper, rubbing my palms all over my face.  I want to punch D.O., but at the same time I don’t, because his words are scarily spot on.  The more I rub, the blurrier my thoughts become.  Sooman?  Dead?  What is the HOC without him?  What will it be?  How will we take care of this?  Who’s going to take his place?  Sooji?  Only 5 days after returning?  Will it be me?  Me, as in the leader of the Aces, but also me, as in the guy with the 6-year-old son?

“I don’t know what to do.”  I groan, repeatedly thudding my head on the window.  I have never been caught so off-guard, and I have never felt so lost and confused in my life.  I bang the side of my head again, trying to even out the dull ache I’ve already been feeling since I heard the news.  “I don’t know how we’re going to handle this.  What the is going to happen now?”

“We’ll call up and emergency meeting.”  Jun quickly replies, as if he has already thought of that.  “We’ll call in the Royals in every chapter, every city we have, and we’ll decide then and only then.  When the whole board of Royals is present.”

“When?”  I ask.

“As per Ms. Lee’s request.” 

My brows instantly furrow.  Don’t get me wrong, I know Sooji is at the center of all this, but… why at her request?  Why not do it tonight?  This evening?  Heck, we must do something as soon as possible!  Without the Joker, the HOC is basically headless.  Too long and word is going to spread.  It’ll be a horrible ing mess. 

I open my mouth to voice out my concerns, but Royal Eric’s voice beats me to it. 

“We’re here.”  He announces, and I immediately look outside. 

White.  The white building.

It’s the medical facility. 

Something roots me to my seat, and all I do is stare hard at the building through the window until Jun yanks the door open.  “Come on.  Let’s go take a look.  It’s also about time you meet Ms.  Lee.”

 

Just like as it is on the outside— everything is white.  White curtains, white walls, white beds, white sheets, white coats, all white, as white as the powder collected in a small petridish held by the white-gloved hands of Healer Gong Yoo.

“This was extracted from the solution inside the tube of his inhaler.”  Gong Yoo explains, his voice somber.  “It’s crystallized sodium cyanide.  Sodium cyanide releases hydrogen cyanide gas, which is what interferes with the body’s ability to use oxygen.  Hydrogen cyanide is also what gives off the bitter almond odor we detected from his mouth, and the symptoms of inhalation of it mimics that of a heart attack— which is what was first assumed when we saw the state of the late Joker.”

The late Joker.  Late.  My fists clench as I look past Gong Yoo’s wide shoulders, at the white door shutting out—or keeping in—something on the other side.  Something, or perhaps… someone. 

Someone dead.  

“So it is prussic acid.”  D.O. says thoughtfully.  I look at him and he adds, “That’s another name for it.”

“Yes, that is true.”  Gong Yoo confirms.

D.O. looks at the white crystals expressionlessly.  “Don’t the symptoms of poisoning usually start to show a few hours after intake?  For prussic acid, I mean.”

“4-5 hours after intake.  Which means he took a puff of this inhaler in the middle of the night—or rather, in the hours after midnight—which means the tube was tampered with before that.”  Gong Yoo looks at D.O., both surprised and impressed.  “You know your poisons?”

Suho wonders aloud the same thing.  “D.O., how do you know all this stuff?”

“A little.”  D.O. shrugs like it’s nothing.  “I read about them, sometimes.  You never know whose life you’ll have to save.”

If things aren’t as bad as they are right now I’d say something like ‘and that’s probably how those eyes got so wide’ but I have no spirit to do that now.  Lee Sooman’s dead.  And I, I—

“I want to see him.”  I tell Gong Yoo. 

Gong Yoo regards me with hard eyes, but not unkind.  “Are you ready?”

I press my eyes shut and draw in my breath, slowly exhaling through my nose.  “Yes.”

Gong Yoo looks at Eric and Jun for approval.  Receiving it, Gong Yoo takes a step back and inputs the passcode on the electronic door lock.  A green light blinks twice and he swings the door open.

Stepping into the room feels like stepping into a vacuum container—there’s no air.  No sound.  No life.  I can’t even breathe.

I don’t move until Suho touches my arm gently.  “Kai.  Do you want to come back later?”

I shake my head without even thinking about it.  Miraculously finding strength, I take a step forward and walk right up to his bed.  Slowly.  With heavy steps.  But he’s covered under a sheet— covered under a white sheet already.  I can somewhat hear myself asking someone to open it, and when Gong Yoo does, when Sooman’s body is finally there in front of my eyes, my heart abruptly stops beating too.

His eyes are closed and he’s lying with his hands by his side, and it would’ve looked as if he was just sleeping if it isn’t for the color of his skin.  His face, his body, everything… is pink.  Purplish-pink. 

“Livor mortis.”  Gong Yoo says solemnly.  “The earliest of post mortem changes.”

Post mortem.  .  , all of this is , everything is just , and I— I want to scream.  I want scream and shake him awake because his skin patched with ugly purplish-pink patches and yet he’s lying there with a peaceful look on his face as if this is completely normal because he can’t do anything about it because he’s dead!!  He’s dead!  He’s skin is turning pink because he’s ing dead!

I’m breathing heavily now, and I’m starting to feel sick, because seeing him lying lifeless before my eyes feels a whole lot different than just hearing about his death in the car.  I turn to D.O., shaking my head, indicating that I can’t keep staring at his corpse.  My brain is refusing to process what my eyes see.  His skin… Lee Sooman is nothing more than a corpse now.

“Kai, take a deep breath.”  D.O. says soothingly, rubbing my back a little.  “Deep breaths.” 

I do as he tells me to, but it’s not working.  It’s not just about seeing Sooman dead in front of me, it’s what seeing him dead is doing to me.  The psychological toll it’s taking on me.  I’ve always seen him not just as my boss but also as my uncle, no matter how many times we’ve argued, and seeing him looking pink in his eternal sleep, I just—

Iseul.

I want to hug Iseul.  I want to hug her and close my eyes shut and bury my face in her neck, because even the already-fading smell of her shampoo and sweat is better than this sickly antiseptic smell reeking in the air.  I want her to tell me that it’s going to be okay, and that we’ll all get through this, and that we’ll all be fine even though we’ve just lost the leader of our whole crime organization.  I want to tell her that unlike Sooman, she’ll forever be here.

Balling my fists, I will myself to relax.  “I think I need to—“

Suddenly, the door flies open.  My head shoots upwards, looking in the direction of it, and what I see nearly makes my eyes pop out of their sockets.

What I see is a girl.  A girl standing in the doorway, her hand still on the handle, with 2 guys standing closely behind her.  In a confused moment where I totally did not expect a female, I thought that it was Iseul.  But no.  The longer I look at her, the longer we stare at each other unblinkingly, the more I’m beginning to figure out who this girl is. 

Lee Sooji.  Daughter of Lee Sooman.

She’s right here, knocking all the air right out of the room.

I don’t know what to think. 

She has changed a lot, but something in me just knows that it’s her.  I… I don’t know.  I don’t know anything right now.  For once in my life, my brains, my instincts, my body does not know what to do.

Lee Sooji is here.  Lee Sooji is back.

This is like a tsunami after an earthquake— I’ve barely recovered from the shock form the first and now I’m already being wrecked again by the second.  First, Sooman is dead, and second, his daughter is here.  I suddenly get an overwhelming urge to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of his situation, because what the actual is all this?!  Am I going insane?

Sooji is the first to recover.  Her lips slowly part, making way for the firsts of words.  “Kim… Jongin.”  She says, pronouncing my name like she has never said it before.  “You’re back.”

Me?  I’m back?  She’s the one who’s back!  Where did I ever go?!

“Yah.”  I reply, looking at her in disbelief.  “You’re the one who’s back!  You’re the one who left.  Where the hell were you all these years?!  I never went anywhere!”

“I got sent away, Jongin, I didn’t leave.”  She replies, crossing her arms as she walks towards me.  “You were in Hong Kong when I came.  So technically, you’re the one who’s back.”

What?  What?  Who is this woman?!  Sooji has changed so much, and she really has grown to be a woman totally different from the chubby kid I remember.  Her voice is strong and firm, her eyes are hard with anger and experience, and her face— wow, she’s different.  Just how the hell did she starve herself to get rid of all her chubbiness?  She looks so different now. 

Good different, at that. 

I knew we’d meet again someday, eventually, but I never imagined that it would be here.  Like this.  At the medical facility, in a room smelling of disinfectant, with her father slowly slipping into rigor mortis just behind me.  , I still can’t wrap my head around that fact.

“It’s been awhile, Jongin.”  Sooji continues, surprisingly calm for someone who has just lost her father so suddenly.  “I heard you go by Kai now.”

I nod, my brows furrowed.  “Are you really Lee Sooji?  His… his daughter?”

Sooji raises her brows.  “What kind of question is that?”

Okay, wow.  I don’t remember Sooji talking back to me like this when she was a kid.  Who is this woman?!

“It’s a question you ask after not seeing someone for more than a decade.”  I reply. 

Suzy tilts her head.  “Well, it’s not a question you ask after that someone’s father has just died.  Be careful, Jongin.  I might just snap at you.”

I can’t hold it in anymore.  “What the happened to you?!”

The words hang in the air like they don’t know where to go and Suzy looks at me like she has just been slapped.  She stands there, looking stunned for a second, before her eyes turn into daggers and her lips start twitching a little.  Then she looks livid, like she might actually slap me.  .  I shouldn’t have said that, should I?  D.O. and Suho are looking at me with equally horrified expressions as well, especially when Suzy takes a menacing step forward. 

“Kim Jongin.”  She calls again, articulating every vocal, every consonant.  “Outside.  Now.”

Without another word she spins around on her heels and storms out the door again, startling the two men who I suspect are her bodyguards assigned to follow her 24/7.  I stare at the door stupidly, still unsure if I should follow or not.  Because… is that girl really Sooji?!

“Kai, what the ?!”  D.O. spits, extending an arm towards the door.  “Follow her!  She’s Sooji, for God’s sake.  The girl just lost her father— she has all the reasons to be angry!  Follow her and ing apologize!”

“Yeah, Kai, you should really go.”  Suho pipes up.  “Even if you don’t think that she’s Sooji, you should follow her and find out who she really is.”

“KIM JONGIN!”  A distant voice from outside yells, and my brows furrow.  See?  Would Sooji have the nerve to do that?

D.O. shakes his head and pushes me to the door.  “Just go already!”

“Yah!”  I yell, shaking him off me.  “Okay, okay, I’m leaving!  Jeez!” 

Yanking the door open, I step outside and find Sooji already halfway down the hallway, standing with her hands on her hips.  She looks at me impatiently.

“Jongin, come here right now and tell these two guards who assigned to follow me like a bird follows breadcrumbs that you’re going to be coming with me and that you’re perfectly capable of fighting a whole gang by yourself.”  Sooji orders, pointing at the two bodyguards who must be from the Joker’s unit.  Her whole faced is pinched with anger and her eyes are telling me to just goddamn do it already, so I walk towards her and do as she says. 

“Leave.  I’ll take care of her.”  I instruct, standing beside Sooji somewhat protectively.  Hearing my words, Suzy defiantly glares at her bodyguards.

“You heard him.  He’s going with me and I’d like to talk to him in private.  Leave.”

“We’ve been ordered to never leave Ms. Lee alone.”  One of the guards reply with a frown.  I give him a frown back.

“By who?  Who’s in charge right now?  Who do you answer to?  Your boss is dead—“  I pause, swallowing, “which makes me, leader of the Aces, second in command after the Joker, everyone’s boss for the time being.”

Sooji’s bodyguards look unhappy with that rationale but can’t really say anything to object, since I’m right.  After a moment, one of them slowly sighs and nods in submission.  “Yes, boss.”

But the other one isn’t persuaded yet.  “Boss, we know that that is true, but the Royals have ordered us to really never let Ms. Lee out of our sight.  They don’t want to risk it.  And now that she’s going with you… you’re also an important person, boss.  The two of you going totally unguarded is too dangerous.”

I sigh, realizing that he does have a point. “Fine.  But you are to stand guard only at the entrances or exits of the floor we’re going to go.”  I finally decide.  “And you are allowed to bring more people if you need to.” 

“What?”  Sooji whips her head towards my direction.  “Jongin, you’re doing the exact opposite of what I told you to!”

“He’s right— it’s too risky, Sooji.  At least they’re not right behind our backs.  This is the best I can allow.” 

Sooji sighs but finally gives in.  She crosses her arms and glares at her bodyguards.  “Fine.  We’re going to the rooftop.”

Without waiting for a response, she spins around on her heels again—I think she has a knack for doing this—and stalks away, leaving me behind.  Okay, wow.  I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but wow—Sooji is being one of a boss right now.  Has she already been pronounced as the next Joker or something?  I don’t think so.  Well, maybe it’s just the stress affecting her.  Okay, Kai, don’t be an again.  Remember, Sooji is your childhood best friend, and she just lost her father.  Yeah.  Those two are important.

Aish.  With a sigh, I jog up to her and follow her into the lift.  The doors slide close and after Sooji presses the button for the rooftop of this building, we gradually begin to ascend in silence.  I use this chance to try to apologize.

“Look, Sooji, I—I didn’t mean to make you mad. I didn’t mean what I said, I just couldn’t recognize—“

“’What the happened to you’, seriously, Jongin?”  Sooji interjects, her voice still angry but considerably softer now.  “That’s the first thing you ask me as soon as we meet?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”  I lamely defend myself.  “I… I’m sorry.”

Sooji sighs heavily, sounding the saddest she’s ever been since I first met her.  She leans on the elevator wall, resting her head on it too, and suddenly she looks vulnerable and not at all intimidating anymore.  In fact, she just looks… tired.  Tired and so done with everything, even though it’s only the beginning of her life with us here. 

“I’ve changed.  I know.”  She finally says, her voice soft.  “All these years… did a lot to me.”  

I stare at her for a while, then at the floor, not really knowing what to say.  “I bet.”

I mean, she even wasn’t this tall back then.  She wasn’t this slim.  Compared to now her face used to look like burnt steamed buns because heck—  I swear her skin got fifty shades lighter.  Plus, she didn’t have long brown hair that looks like she just went straight out a shampoo commercial, back then.  I’m not sure if she was an idol or something at some point in her life, but Sooji sure looks like one. 

Thank goodness she’s my half-cousin.  If not… well… I just don’t know how Iseul will react when she finds out there’s someone like Sooji working very closely with me in my life.  I mean—I’m just being realistic here—Sooji has become really pretty.  And knowing Iseul… I know she’ll get pretty insecure.  Even though I tell her all the time how she doesn’t need to be, I’ve finally come to understand how mostly, she just can’t help it.  It’s fine with me, really, but it’d be better if there’s nothing for her to be insecure about.

Goddammit.  I just don’t know. 

“We have so much to talk about.”  Sooji continues, staring at the floor numbers on the screen that are constantly changing as we continue to go up.  “I hope you’re ready for more.”

“More what?”

“More news.”

My gut twists at that.  There’s more?

“Let’s go.”  Sooji suddenly says, pushing herself off the wall as the elevators ding and the doors slide open.  “We’re here.”

We step outside and find two of the Joker’s men already standing guard in front of the lift.  There are another two by the emergency exit stairs, and one by the large window.  Sooji looks around at all of them. 

“Stay here and don’t even think of going to the out of the building.”  Sooji commands. “Just stay here and watch the roof.”

“Yes.”

Sooji and I stride towards the door leading out of the building and into the roof.  With one last look at her bodyguards, she pulls the door open and we step out into the sun.

The roof is bare except for a few pipes, water tanks, and a huge helipad in the middle of the wide, open space.  Railings safeguard the perimeter of the area, but they really are useless.  I mean, nearly anyone can ing jump over those! 

“Let’s just go up to the deck.”  She says, immediately heading towards a set of stairs behind the small building we just came out of.  As always she walks ahead of me, marching her way up the stairs before I can say anything.  For the first time in my life, I just shut up and follow.

The deck is a much better place to talk at.  It’s almost comfortable, even.  This smaller area is a lot greener, with shrubs and small flower plants lined up neatly in wooden flowerbeds by the balcony.  There are also some potted plants here and there, though mostly everything is just the same dense, green foliage.  Almost everything is brown and made of wood, giving the deck a really… organic feeling.  As we sit down at a wooden bench, I begin to feel like I’m being planted into a flower pot.

“It’s like we’re in a flowering pot.”  I joke lamely, attempting to lighten the mood.  Sooji only responds with a sigh, her expression sullen again.  Aish, what now?!  I’m not sure whether I like her better when she’s screaming or sighing!

“I ing hate all of them.”  She states bluntly, staring out into the distant sky-blue horizon.  “I hate them so much.”

“Who?”

“Those guys.  My father’s men.”  She replies, her voice angry and bitter.  “I loathe them.  That’s why I can’t help but be a ing to them.  What?  They want to keep guard of me?  They’re joking, right?  They couldn’t even guard my father properly!  Now he’s ing dead!”

Suddenly, Sooji bursts into tears and begins sobbing uncontrollably.  Okay… .  What do I do now?  Wow.  Um.  How do I comfort crying people again??

Slowly, I put my arm around her and she buries her face in my shoulder.  It actually feels weird, having someone who is not Iseul this close to me, but then again I figured that this is simply a platonic gesture and I can at least do this much to comfort her.  It’s not like I’m fully hugging her or anything, right?

Anyway, Suzy lifts her head back up after only about a minute or so, so I drop my arm too.  She brushes some hair out of her face and the look in her eyes tells me that she’s ready to spit fire.

“There were two ing guys standing outside his office all the time.  There are two guys right outside yet someone still managed to sneak into it and still my father’s inhaler, tampered with it or replaced it for a new one, I don’t know, and went back and returned it successfully.  Do you know what level of idiocy does that speak for?  Do you think they still deserve to be standing there?!”  Sooji scathes, her blazing eyes filled with hot tears.  “And now they’re following me around like morons.  I ing hate it, Jongin, I ing hate how I can’t even go to the toilet in peace.  I want to get rid of them.  The whole unit.  They failed their task, what the hell are they still here for?!  If anything, one of those guys might even be the traitor!  And the Royals still want them to keep me safe?  Are they crazy?!”

“We’ll settle the issue about the guards and everything soon.”  I tell her.  “The Royals are calling up a meeting as soon as they gather everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“The Royals in the other chapters, the Aces in China…”

“Ah, um… Yi Fan and his friends?”

It’s been so long since I’ve heard anyone call Kris by his real name, but then again it’s been even longer since Sooji has last met all these people.  I nod.  “Yeah, Yi Fan and his friends.”

She thinks this over for a moment before unexpectedly giving a jeering scoff.  “And they think just a meeting can settle this?”

I look at her, carefully arranging the words to say.  “Sooji, we have to consider all the options of which direction we want to progress in from everyone’s point of views.  The HOC cannot—“

“Cannot what?”  She snaps.  “Cannot stop wasting time?  What the hell is a meeting for?  You fire everyone from the Joker’s unit who was on duty that day and catch the real ing snitch!  I told one of those Royals already but they simply shut me up with a—“

“You told them already?”  I repeat, turning to face her completely.  “Sooji, you know who did it?”

Sooji nods impatiently.  “Well, I don’t know if this guy actually did it or not but I did see him coming out of my dad’s office that night when I wanted to visit him.  The problem is, I told the Royals about it already but they said that that was too weak to assume anything and now—“

“Who is it?”  I urge her, shaking her shoulders.  I can’t believe she only mentioned it now!  If I had known who did it I would’ve already gone and sent him to hell and back and then back to hell again.  I look at Sooji squarely in the eyes.  “Sooji.  Who?”

Sooji swallows a little.  “I saw… I saw Changmin.” 

“Changmin?”  I echo, furious.  Changmin.  That son of a .  He was the one who said all those nasty stuff to Iseul during the night we left for Hong Kong.  He’s the one who talked in her face.  I knew I should’ve killed him when I got the chance, but Iseul didn’t let me then.  So I’m doing it now.

I stand up and dust my pants, ready to hunt him down.  “Where the hell is that bastard?”

“No, no, Jongin, you can’t.”  Sooji quickly says, pulling my arm to make me sit down again.  “Listen to me first.  I told you I have a lot to tell you about today.”

“Sooji, can it wait until I blow his brains out?  It won’t even take an hour, I swear.”

“It can’t.”  She stubbornly shakes his head.  “You can’t Jongin.  Because someone already did that for you.  Changmin is already dead.”

The news hits me like wrecking ball dropped from above and I sink back down to the bench again.  “W-what?”

“Changmin is dead too.”  Sooji repeats.  “That’s what I was saying before.  I told the Royals, they told me to wait, and several hours later we found him dead already.  He was shot in an alley.  I just heard the news from one of the Royals before I came back into my father’s room when I met you.  That’s why I was so… I was so furious.  I wanted nothing more than to smash everything, and then you hit me with that ‘what the happened to you’ type of .  So you, Jongin.  Life happened to me, that’s what.”

“I’m sorry.” I tell her again, though quite taken aback at how she directly said ‘ you’ to me.  Who does she think she is— okay okay no relax, Kai, relax.  Sooji is under a lot of stress right now.  She’s also your childhood best friend who just lost her father.  Relax.

“So now we’re looking for the man who killed Changmin, because it has got to be an accomplice who then turned his back on him.  There were two people at the very minimum, I’m sure of it.  But I don’t have a ing clue of who the second one is, which is why we have to find him before that bastard gets even further away from us!  We don’t have any ing time for meetings, goddammit, can’t they see that?!”

“Calm down, calm down.”  I try to pacify her, lightly her shoulder.  “Take a deep breath.”

“Are you kidding me?”  She spits, glaring at me.  “Calm down?”

I open my mouth to respond but she beats me to it.  “I don’t know if your emotions have completely died or something, but I cannot calm down right now.  I am inexplicably filled with rage that I want to lash out at everyone, especially those idiots ordered to guard me.  As if.  I’m angry about my father’s death, I’m angry at how unfair it is that he has to die now, when I’ve only just returned, I’m angry about how I didn’t do anything when I bumped into Changmin as he was exiting my father’s office, I’m ing angry at how this basta

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neonflowers
[Incredible Things] Finally complete! Thank you so much for joining me on this looong whirlwind journey 🥰 hope you join me on my other stories!

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leechoding #1
Chapter 57: Rereading this for 120th time. I'll never get tired of this story. It's like one of the best fics ever written on this app.
samara12 #2
This is the best fic on AFF. I cried when it ended. It felt something was missing from my life after finishing this. You are best writer ever. Some published books are not even this good. Please don’t ever delete this story. Best of best. My favorite fic of alllllll time… I honestly don’t think I will ever find anything better than this. I promise this is not fake flattery. This really is the best!!❤️
xiuminbaek
#3
Chapter 66: Oh my god. It's take me about a week to finish this. I really love this fic so much 😭😭. The roller coaster emotion i am having for this one is so real. The fact that i kinda hate mark so much for leading iseul to think he likes her. And to hate suzy for treating iseul like . I kinda mad at iseul for being kind to much. She's really a forgiving person. She's really quick to forgive mark for everything he did to her. And have him back as her friend. Also she's quick to forgive Suzy for breaking her relationship with jongin 😭. Eventhough the break really helped their relationship a lot. Also lucas appearance really helped too. I wish i could see them being mushy more before iseul getting back with jongin haha. But at last. I love it how iseul is accepting jongin's back. I love the effort jongin have to get iseul back. Everything in this story is so good and i love it. I love u for giving iseul a best friend she deserve like bom. The one who will stick with her. I thought the getting back between iseul and jongin will be a little hard. Like iseul will be playing hard to get or smthg 🤣. But well she loves him so much. And it's good for them...anyway!! Thank you so much for the fic! I enjoyed them so much!!
theshadyone
#4
Chapter 68: Can’t believe I finished reading this, it took me several days of non-stop fangirling and crying but I finally made it! Thank you for the ride, I simply loved this story with all my heart 💜
Ekale_erie
#5
Chapter 13: I'm seriously doubting Mark!
And who's this new person now?
Ekale_erie
#6
Chapter 12: Don't know why I feel suspicious of Mark...
Ekale_erie
#7
Chapter 8: Oh my God! That last line is just aksjskakakja!!
Ekale_erie
#8
Chapter 5: Jongguk is such a cute lil ball of sunshineeeee!