The day of the wedding is stressful even though Gary hasn’t lifted a finger. It was mostly the anxiety of getting married that was stressing him out. He left the room he had shared with Jung In for the last two days and was now sitting in one of the vacant rooms.

Gary closes his eyes to clear his mind but opens them again when the door swings open. He fought a growl when he sees his father come in, dressed in his usual attire, a black tux.

“We just got information of an impending attack,” his father sits across from him, his face calm as he speaks. “Choi is planning to attack the box tonight. Do you have any idea whose his spy is?”

Gary considers leaving the room instead he gather his thoughts from the past week, checking if there were any inconsistencies. It can’t be Lee, he was part of the big Three whom his father highly regards, and he wouldn’t dare double-cross his father. Jung In? Perhaps. Gary was never good at reading women so he might be wrong about Jung In.

Suddenly another face cross his mind, but he refuses to believe the forming theory in his head.

The thought makes him sick and he struggles to keep his face blank. That’s when his father decided to look at him and by the way his father was smiling he knows what Gary was thinking.

“The woman and the child, eh?” His father crosses his leg, malice in his voice. .

Gary’s heart sank and he can feel the bile in his throat.

Of course! It was Jihyo. Who the hell would have the guts to speak with the son of a drug lord? . How could he have been so foolish? Gary wanted to punch a wall.

His knuckles turn white as anger travels through his vein, up to his chest. Jihyo was probably a trained assassin just like himself, she could have killed him many times. Gary feels his sweat leave marks on his face.

“Don’t look so shock Hee Gun. She is just some that -“

Gary stands so fast his chair flips over. His gun was out and is currently pointed at his father. “Shut the up.” His chest is on fire.

The older man also stands, a hint of surprise on his face. “You’re going to shoot your own father?”

Gary laughs. Is his father that dense? “I can give you a million reasons why I should kill you, father.”

He watches his father, the older man’s eyes turning dangerous. “You don’t know anything,” his father spits out, the voice cold and rough.

Unexpectedly, his mother’s face replaces his father’s face. The gun suddenly feels heavy in Gary’s hand. Feeling brave, Gary speaks. “Tell me,” his mother’s face still in front of him, “did you kill my mother?” As soon as the question left his mouth, he feels some sort of burden lift from his shoulder. However, his father’s face appears again and it looks less crazy and more hurt.

He had never seen that kind of emotion play across his father’s face which makes Gary uneasy.

“I did not kill your mother.” Gary barely hears his father speak. Oddly enough, Gary believes his father’s words.

“How did she die?”

Gary’s father clears his throat and sits down. “It was Suk jin’s wedding when it happened. Assassins were hired to kill me. We didn’t expect the attack, I still don’t know to this day how they could have found out where the wedding was. But, shots were fired. I tried to get to you and your mother, but it was too late. Somebody was going to shoot you, so your mother took the bullet.”

The older Kang sighs, rapidly looking older and tired. “Why didn’t you tell me this?” ask Gary feeling a swell of sadness in his heart. His hatred towards his father must have played with his mind when he was younger, he made himself believe that his mother had died under the wrath of his father.

His father shrugs. “You never asked.”

Gary snorts. “I was a child!”

He earns another shrug from the older man. “I am not a mind reader.”

“You aren’t a very good father either,” he comments before he can process his words.

“I know, Hee gun. Being a parent wasn’t part of the-“ Jae suk begins but stops.

Gary raises an brow.“What?”

Jae suk rubs his temple. “We don’t have time for this . If you’re still planning to kill me, just do it now and stop wasting time.”

“I’ll kill you after you finish,” Gary replies, finally taking a sit.

Jae suk lets out a frustrated sigh. “What the hell do you want from me, boy? An apology?”

Gary sits straighter, the questions all these years itching to be asked. “Why are you an ?” The satisfaction ran through Gary’s body when he sees his father face. It was angry with a hint of resentment. “Yah, I guess it’s hard to answer that. Why do you want me to marry Jung In so bad?”

“Lee and his family have influence over here, we need them to be on our side.” His father answers quickly. Before Gary can fire another question his father adds, “And by the looks of it, it is going very well, Jung In is smitten by you.”

Gary rolls his eyes. “What are you hiding in the box? You couldn’t have kept all the inventory in one place,” says Gary rolling his shoulder. The chair is starting to make his body uncomfortable.

“That’s none of your-“

“I’m your only son! I have the right to know what’s going on in this organization!” Gary demands his fist curling painfully.

Both father and son held each other’s eyes unwilling to give in, but eventually the older man exhales and replies, “I’m not an idiot, so mind your tone. The box contains an item, and if you roll your eyes one more time I will stab it, but anyway, this item is-is very important, it is the heart of the organization.”

Gary’s frustration grows immensely from the obscure answer. “What is it?”

Jae suk closes his eyes as if deciding to further withhold that information but at last he opens his mouth. “It is the ashes of my wife.”

“What?”

“She was from the South. This is her hometown-“

Gary tries to listen to the older man but his mind was running a marathon. It is was so obvious that this part of Korea wasn’t big on drug dealing. He should have known, he should have pressed his father for information. Gary feels numb, his mind cannot comprehend the fact that his father can feel sentiment.

As if his father had read his mind he comments, “I am still a killer, Hee gun. Very much so. Your mother was an unexpected surprise.”

“And me?”

Jae suk groans in frustration. “If you’re looking for a normal father, I am not it. I am well aware of our relationship and I don’t intend to change it.”

Surprisingly, Gary wasn’t bothered instead he feels relief. It doesn’t matter if his father didn’t love or care for Gary the way a father should. He does feel liberation in knowing that his mother was loved by the drug lord in front of him.

“Thank you,” Gary says with a smile.

“This was a waste of time,” Jae suk says looking down at his watch. “So, are you hundred percent sure it’s the woman?”

Without a hesitation he answered. “Yes, it’s Jihyo.”

-0-

The perspiration is dripping down Jihyo’s forehead as she ran through the grassy field. The cool air, Jihyo notes, is a bit useless with cooling down her body. A twig snaps nearby making Jihyo stop her sprint. She stays low on the ground, her ears perked up like a rabbit. When she was sure no one was following she bolts towards the clearing.

However, another twig snaps and this time Jihyo takes the gun from her waist in a caluclated precesion. Her skin crawls with adrenaline making her hypersensitive of her surroundings. The sunset seems redder and the crickets louder. But the gun falls heavily beside her when Nix step onto the clearing.

“What are you doing here?” Jihyo hisses. She feels the situation suddenly turn against her with Nix standing in front of her.

“I saw them chasing you…I didn’t want t-to be alone, I’m sorry.”

The assassin inside of Jihyo scoffs at the little girl’s words. Within a split second, she was dragging Nix by the arms, her gun held on her dominant hands. . Not only is she risking being captured but also putting Nix into greater danger.

They reach the border of the Lee’s mansion. Jihyo lifts Nix up onto the shorter wooden fence and pushes a little. She follows next and is surprise to see her father standing rigidly, a handful of thugs behind him. “I-I um…” She starts but keeps quiet when she sees her father’s burning eyes.

“Let’s get going. Tie the girl,” Choi calls out turning to walk to the waiting black sedans.

Jihyo sigh and directs her gun to the advancing men. “No. Don’t even think about it.” She grabs Nix’s arms and follows her father onto the car. 

LATE UPDATE omg, life happened, I'm sorry. But this chapter is kind of bleh, I wanted to give a back story to Jae suk...Happy almost weekend everyone! :D