Night had fallen over the Undercity. The moon had been shining its weak light over the wet streets of the city. The city had been thriving in its HUB – the center of the city’s entertainment – even on a stuffy night like so didn’t deter people from going out.

The Undercity always appeared livelier at night and the reason for it being so could never be truly understood – most assume it was the way people didn’t sleep until the unholy hours of the morning while others insisted it was the buzz of the city lights in every corner. The city wasn’t the most glamorous looking if anything it was a wealthy one but a rough around the edges type.

In a city like the Undercity, it was riddled with the Korean Mafia and the Yakuza. The two organizations had a sort of understanding – the need to operate in a brittle harmony of co-existence while in almost friendly competition in an ever-present struggle over stomping grounds and power.

Even then, the risky atmosphere didn’t stop the neon lights from being bright and it didn’t stop its people’s fast and dangerous way of life where the stakes were always high.

People gambled and risked everything for their fifteen seconds of fame amongst the cutthroat game for drugs, guns, and money. However, even as the hours grew later, people tended to cling to the HUB of the city center where the clubs didn’t sleep and neither did the casinos and hotels.

It was a little shy of two in the morning and the dying howls of traffic into the city center were fading into the darkness. A dark ‘92 Chevy Impala lurked through the wet streets, clinging to the velvet night like its shadow. It purred in its glide against the wet tar, the loose gravel grinding under the weight of the mechanical beast as it headed towards the outer districts of the city.

The sleek car pulled into an empty parking lot – a shopping complex found in the outskirts of the city. Three men sat lazily in the idling car – the low hum from the engine was drowned out by the wailing sirens that echoed from the streets.

“This is the place, right?” The blonde driver called out as his hand tightened over the steering wheel in an anxious habit.

“Yeah, that’s the one. It’s the last on that the Boss ordered the hit on,” replied his dark-skinned friend, who was sprawled out in the backseat.

“That store over there? Why would we do a hit on that one? Denzel, this looks too easy.” The driver furrowed his eyebrows in a perplexed manner as he regarded his partner in the backseat.

“Shut up already! It’s the last one for us. You guys have been complaining since the first stop.” The figure in the passenger seat had snapped at the chatty males.

“Yeah, but that’s only because we usually get some sort of explanation.” James, the driver, spoke up.

“The chain of stores that we’ve targeted belongs to a friend who owes our Boss a lot of money. We just have to set an example of what will happen to all of his businesses when he doesn’t pay on time.” The voice was unusually soft and slightly accented but drawled in the reply as the man threw a once overlook to the shop entrance.

“The favorite must know.” Denzel snipped. The sandy blonde in the passenger seat snorted and lolled his head toward his two associates.

“Favourite? Hardly the case, unlike you assholes, I’m forced to play nice around the old man because I know better than to ask for a personal bullet up my ass from him.” Tae retorted, his jaw tightening ever so slightly.

The blonde driver spluttered and cussed out.

“Fuck you, Tae.”

Tae had then looked to James, his icy blue eyes sparkling with mischief, “Why, James, I didn’t know you felt like that about me. But as flattered as I am, I have a job to do. Maybe Denzel is willing to step in for me. Just be sure you wankers are done before I get back.”

He shot the two a smirk as he slid out of the car while the two breathily swore at their friend. He signaled for the two in the car to pipe the fuck down with a single wave of his hand and then pulled his hood up before he stalked off to the store.

A cell phone lay atop a dirty white counter. It buzzed softly, rattling against the surface. Feminine hands grasped the tantrum like device that demanded attention. A swipe at the lock screen and few taps later, the messaging chat box was open.

MinMin: Boooo…

                        Alice: What do you need, Minnie?

MinMin: Cover for me? Running late.

                        Alice: How late is late? -_-

MinMin: About another hour… at least.

                        Alice: Hate you. It’s like you’re not even coming into work tonight. I own your ass and half your paycheque bcoz of this.

MinMin: Love you too. Of course, you do. See you soon.

Alice White groaned in frustration as she reread her texts with Min.

God, she loved the boy but his hours were insane.

Well, she was stuck at the store for the rest of the shift – Min would probably only be back by some miracle in time just to clock out for the night. She continued tapping at her phone on social media apps and only threw a glance at the figure that entered the store.

She stopped briefly, fingers slowed to a halt on the screen, thinking that the man shared a strong resemblance to Min but shook it off, chalking it up to her just missing Min too much.

Tae entered the store; his head down least a security camera catches him, side-glancing the girl at the till – she didn’t seem interested with him walking in. His heavy footfalls were deliberate so the girl at the till would ignore him, thinking it’s just a drunk customer that wasn’t able to locate alcohol within the shop. His gait slightly staggered ever more so for dramatic effect.

He shot a once overlook at the rack of wines and alcohol bottles on the shelves, internally grinning as he remembered to have a good drink when he gets home. He stopped his charade and craned his head to glance to see the woman at the till paid him no heed.

Perfect, he thought.

He took slow steps as he lurked in the aisle, not wanting to draw attention to him. He rounded the back of the aisle, covered by the wide rack. He tugged on his hood, making his profile retreat under the material. He lifted the heavy layers of his leather jacket and hoodie to yank his revolver out from the back pocket of his ripped jeans.

He snapped the safety off while eyeing the girl – she was still completely unaware. She has been sifting through the feed on her phone. He took a breath and made his way towards the counter.

It was a few brisk steps as he approached the till and removed the canvas material bag from his other back pocket in the same motion.

He tossed the bag at the girl and she made a noise, obviously startled.

When she had picked her head up, the urge to scream had bubbled up in her throat but she couldn’t find her voice – her jaw fell slack as he aligned the revolver to her forehead at point-blank range.

She couldn’t see his face as he looked away; away from her eyes and the security camera – the last thing he needed was being caught or him being remembered.

She trembled as she felt the lack of distance between her and the barrel of the gun, she paled when she heard the click of the shoplifter cranking the hammer back and his finger was ready on the trigger. He dipped his head, still mindful of the security camera, to see if she had frozen in place.

He suppressed the sigh when he realized she had – he still had time to play so he took advantage of her stupor to pull the hammer back a little more and pushed it back up. It was a common reaction for an innocent citizen to freeze at gunpoint.

He snapped his fingers in front of her face and she snapped out of her terror-induce trance.

He lazily flicked his gun, the barrel motioning toward the cash till as a sign to fill the bag.

With shaky hands, she filled the bag hastily and threw it back to him before raising her hands in a freeze formation. He raised an eyebrow at her as he caught the bag, while not letting his gun falter, full intent to pull the trigger if she tried anything funny. He kept the gun focused on her as he stepped backward to back out of the store.

“C’ mon, man! We got to move! Now!” He heard James’ voice cut across the air.

Tae hissed under his breath and snapped his head to the side to catch sight of Denzel swinging the passenger door open for him. Alice froze when she caught the glimpse of him, the shop lifter’s hood slid off his head the moment he turned back to look.

The lines of his face were blurred in the haze of her panic but the image of full lips, cold blue eyes, and blonde hair had imprinted itself into her memory. The concept sounded beautiful but the intent in his eyes was what made her frightened.

He wasn’t like any other shoplifter. He was confident and smug. Not a trace of frantic panic painted in those haunting eyes.

He looked back at her, pinning her with a fierce look – she didn’t like the look in his eyes, before tugging his hood back into place. He pulled the hammer down once more as he backed out of the store and watched how she had backed up at lightning reflex, bashing the back of her head into the shelves behind her.

Tae couldn’t help it but his lips curled back into a lazy sneer of arrogance, knowing full well he was out of the camera range – good call for a scare tactic of the dummy one in the shop front, the owner’s habits were as cheap as himself.

It might have been a trick of the mind but Alice swore it was a moment and forever as the blue-eyed shoplifter had turned and dashed off.

She blinked slowly, trying to calm her entire being down.

The doorway of the entrance was empty and the chill came sweeping in.

Alice was left trembling, from the chill or the electrifying eye contact with the criminal she couldn’t discern. The more logical part of her brain argued that her body was currently experiencing shock and trauma and was reacting to it with an adrenaline rush.

But Alice wasn’t thinking straight.

She forgot about deterring the criminal with the can of pepper spray just under her counter and she failed to notice that the panic button she had pressed to alert the assigned local security service was broken but she had managed to wobble around the area behind the counter, a part of her insisting on shutting the door.

She had dropped her phone on the floor while she walked to the door. She reached for the thin slim device before she somehow succeeded to close the store doors, flipped the sign to display ‘CLOSED’ – more on engrained routine instinct rather than a panic precaution.

The flash of those blue eyes flashed before her and she felt the bile climb her throat. It was split-second motion that sent her dashing off to the bathroom at the back. The shock had finally stolen its way into her system.

Alice had accepted her condition as her temple pressed against the toilet bowl. It was a lot of dry heaving on her part since the actual feeling danced on her nerves – making nausea amplified so she tried to have it forced out of her system.

The weight of sickness seeped into her limbs and she sprawled out in the tiny stall. She felt heavy as lead. She fumbled with her phone, bleary eyes, and numb fingers.

Min.

She fought the choking sick feeling in her as she heard the dial tone ring through her. She barely heard it connect before she mumbled into the receiver.

“Help. Please.”

Alice had promptly passed out, connected call and all.

Soft music lulled the exquisite hotel conference room. The Sky Tower, a hotel for VIPs located in the heart of the HUB, had its conference room on one of its topmost floors where guests could conduct affairs lavishly – much like the party it was held for the night.

It was a party that was in the thick of its festivities. It had started as formal sit down with its luxurious arrangement for the large circular dinner tables – They were decadent in design to resemble embossed gold leaf on them and matched the round table overlays where guests were seated at. Heavy white velvet curtains lined the walls until the balcony doors were thrown open to watch the skyline of the Undercity – that is if one was interesting and not just out on the balcony for a smoke.

It was gorgeous but had a borderline dark aura to the room. As if every light color was doused with its tainting shade.

And true was the aura to its purpose. It was a poisoned atmosphere. If one looked at this party it would seem like any other dull affair but upon closer inspection, all the glitter wasn’t gold.

The affair itself wasn’t cut in its grandness but one would miss the drunken guests who ruined the light-colored overlays with dark deep wine stains. The stain of wine in silk was a far cry in comparison to the stains of blood but no one ever saw those.

Not even when the guest wore crisp white gloves.

Politics may have been a dirty game to play but business tactics were even dirtier.

Everyone who had been gathered in the conference room had been there for their interest. It was a chance to bag a position with the strongest Mafia Family in the city – Lee Household.

It was a party where the plates had been cleared and the staff removed so they could conduct business – flocks of painted women manned the makeshift bar, serving drinks. The men sat around the tables in gambling formation – the casino vibe may have been improvised but the stakes were high – people’s lives, families, business and reputations were being gambled for the night.

The money flowed freely like the wine at the party and the liquor was taken hard and fast – steadily and on the rocks. The atmosphere buzzed with sinister energy and it had nothing to do with the thick cigar wisps curling in the air.

Women were lusting – bagging the most advantageous of men for their ventures and comfort, men were lining pockets – not unlikely to fund off the books investments – and companies were bonding over truces of mutual benefit.

Amongst all the dark and dreary, there was a burst of color in the dining party.

Blue roses.

There wasn’t a lot – a single stem lay at the centerpiece of the tables within all the ruin.

Lee Min – heir and only son of the Lee Household – sat, in all his prince-like glory, and watched how everything had unfolded before him. He honestly felt like he had peeked into the horrendous affair. He refused to participate in any of the awful things his family was involved in.

He feigned faux arrogance but, truthfully, he was tired and his upright posture made him ache. His sandy blonde hair flopped perfectly over the fine fuzz of his faded undercut.

Min had come to the point in his life where he couldn’t hide the disgust he held for the business, unconsciously his brown eyes hardened as his gaze flicked over the party-goers. He had tried hard to remain passive – but the ache in his jaw reminded him just how long he had it locked in place to avoid the disgust escaping him in the form of biting words.

Occasionally, he shifted to stop losing feeling from the waist down. Thank god for the heavy tablecloth to hide his legs from changing position every half-hour so. It was frowned upon to fidget – or so his father had once said.

When he wasn’t squirming in his seat, he tugged at the silver loop at his ear.

But eventually, his shoulders had slumped as he succumbed to the boredom.

He had claimed the rose over half an hour ago and had been twirling the blue rose between his fingers ever since. It rolled along with his fingertips, and he was mindful as in doing so, the thorn bluntly pressed over from time to time to keep his attention in check.

He continued the coping mechanism as his thoughts entertained him.

He was seated in a room full of corrupted elites, who liked to deem themselves like nobles and looked to him.

Well, not him per se but his family name and company. He couldn’t help but look down on them – he wasn’t going to shy away from the judging looks and the friction it caused in the business meetings. They knew he had no interest in the trade.

He had no wish to replace his father but he was there to deliberately stop power-hungry hounds from climbing a little too high within ring ranks. His purpose was there was to uphold a family name that had a fully capable successor, even if a reluctant one, but a successor existed nonetheless.

To heighten his irritation of being a blasted puppet, the maroon suit he had donned was suffocating him. The garment fits perfectly provided there was minimal movement, especially the jabot that had been strangling him steadily through the night. The material scratched at him and the ruffles were ill to his taste.

And yet he looked perfect.

Prince Min, as they dubbed him, was not spoilt or as fussy as everyone thought him to be, yet he sat there in a bad mood at the party. He mildly remembered his father’s sick smirk as he promised it would be fun.

He scoffed at that.

Tch.

Prince Min sat there; his full wine glass abandoned and sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time for the night.

The hundred and one sighs became interrupted by his phone buzzing violently in his pocket.

He had practically jumped in his seat and ended up pricking his finger on the thorn.

Hissing lowly, he fumbled the device out and answered by his thumb sliding smoothly against the screen, eyes flicking over to where his father had animatedly been in talks with another greying geezer and then down to his pricked finger that beaded over with blood as he pressed the device to his ear.

Good. No one had noticed him.

“Help. Please.”

His jaw dropped at the weak voice, his hand unconsciously closing over the little delicate flower. Min was sure he heard wrong so he pressed his free hand down onto the table and launched out of his seat and dashed for the entrance of the conference room.

“Alice? Alice?” Min kept calling out but there was no answer, he stood there anxiously, shifting his weight from one foot to another. He couldn’t bear the thought of him wasting time by standing around and trying to discern what he heard.

He had flagged down one of the hotel staff to inform the valet of bringing his car around while he headed for the shiny elevator at the end of the floor.

So Lee Min left his party.

What the dubbed prince failed to notice was that upon dashing from the table he had bruised his rose when he crushed it to the table, the delicate petals falling apart and a particular bruised petal stained with Min’s red blood, the speckling dots of shining liquid soaking into the velvet-like blue petal with a jarring stain.

Min was distraught. He and Alice had worked out a pretty simple system. Alice would cover for him like the good best friend she was and Min was to repay the favor by treating her, however small she asked. It was a system that worked because Alice never pried unless Min told her and she never called him during his ‘out’ hours so it had to be serious if she called.

Min folded himself into his driver’s seat of the car.

The ’68 Charger roared to life and left a cloud of dirt as it sped off. The car was all elegance and grace in motion but Min was a mess as he drove. His dress jacket and waistcoat abandoned on the backseat floor and jabot hanging around his neck while the top buttons were yanked aggressively to breathe easier.

His hair was mussed from the frantic hand he ran through the freshly dyed locks, trying to keep the panic at bay. His knuckles ran white with his grip on the steering wheel and his bottom lip being worried by his teeth to the point of drawing blood.

He sped from the well-off districts to lesser districts. The drive from the inner parts of the Undercity to the outer edges wasn’t that long but Min felt like he was going at snail pace. He veered into the back alley behind the block and practically tumbled into the store – elegant dress shoes clattering against the lino flooring – only to find it deserted.

Before panic began to rule his mind, he searched every aisle of the store and then the back office.

Still nothing.

But finally stumbling to the bathroom, he found the familiar mass of brown hair splayed out on the floor.

“Christ, Alice.” Min breathed as he dived to pick her up.

Min sat her upright against the wall of the stall and patted lightly at her cheek, “Alice, wake up!”

Her limp physique lay clammy in his hold while he checked for any signs of assault on her – thankfully, she hadn’t been touched.

“Oh my God, Alice, what happened to you?”  He brushed her hair from her face and checked her breathing – he breathed a sigh of relief realizing she was only momentarily knocked out.

He ran off to the sink and pulled out the handkerchief out from his pocket. The swatch of fabric was shoved under the stream of cold water before he wrung it out.

He returned and pressed his cold handkerchief to her skin, wiping from her temple down to the hollow of her collarbones.

He lay the cool cloth across her forehead and lay her head in his lap.

It seemed like an entire night before Alice stirred. She was parched, woozy and her head throbbed in tune with her heartbeat. She noted the floor didn’t seem so cold or hard either. There was something stuck to her forehead.

“Alice. You’re awake!” A soft voice filled her ears.

Focusing her vision, Alice stared up and found Min filling her view scope. He was all soft eyes and plush lips. Everything about Min was soft, right down to the strokes of his face. Lifting a hand to ensure she wasn’t hallucinating, she brushed her fingertips against his cheek before he caught hold of her limp hand.

“Minnie…?” It was more of a question than a statement.

“Yeah, boo. I’m here. Are you okay now?” He squeezed her hand assuring her while pulling off the handkerchief on her forehead.

He shifted her into a sitting position.

“Min…” And her voice cracked.

“Wait.” He commanded gently and Alice nodded.

Min took off to the fridges, fingers curled around the damp material on the handle, to grab chilled water and returned to Alice. She spat the first two mouthfuls into the toilet bowl before she drank hastily; water spilled from the corners of her lips and Min just dabbed his handkerchief after the stray droplets.

“What happened, Alice?”

“The store was robbed and the guy came in and wanted the till emptied but he chose to ask with his gun to my forehead instead of yelling about it.” She said drily as she recalled her encounter with the robber.

“I’m sorry, boo. This is my fault. Had I been here at the time…” Min sighed and shook his head while grasping her hand and squeezed it. This time it felt like more he needed it more than she did.

Alice shook it off.

“No, it’s not your fault, Minnie. It was just awful timing on our parts. Wait… Did the security service come? I pressed the panic button.” She sounded confused for a moment.

“No one has come to the store, Alice – it’s been over an hour now.”

“Fuck… it doesn’t work?!” Alice exclaimed.

“Cheapskate bastard of a boss,” Min muttered under his breath.

He sighed softly.

“Still, I leave you alone at the store at night too often and the store isn’t in one of the safest districts in the Undercity. It was stupid of me. Spend the night at my place. I’m not leaving you alone for the rest of the night.” He tugged her from the bathroom to the front of the store.

“Min, the shop?” Alice blurted out – she was grateful for Min but she didn’t want to lose her job.

“I’ve got it covered, boo; think you can handle grabbing your jacket and bag while I lock up?” Min asked and she nodded. Min had wrapped around to the front.

“I’ll call Mr. Yang and tell him that we’re closing for tonight,” Min spoke a little louder since he was at the cash register and shutting it with his sleeved elbow to avoid further fingerprints in the place while his other hand was busy fishing out his phone from his pocket. His finger flicked through the contact list and he dialed the sleazeball he called a shop owner.

The call was answered but no one spoke as heavy pants of two voices were heard over the phone.

Oh, gross. That’s something I could have lived a life without hearing.

“Morning, Mr. Yang. I trust it’s been pleasant.” He drawled as he grimaced.

“Make it snappy, boy.” The man grumbled on the end of the line.

“Sure, boss. Your shop has been robbed. I’m taking Alice for the evening so your shop is now closed until I arrive later for the next shift. I trust you will inform authorities about your shop robbery since when we tried to alert the security company the panic button didn’t work,” Min sniped, “Goodbye, Mr. Yang.”

Min ended the call upon hearing his boss’ incoherent sputtering about his beloved shop. He snorted, if anything his boss loved more than a good lay, it was money.

“I’ve been itching for an excuse to do that lately.” Alice chuckled at how Min went from professional and cold to the giggly boy she called a friend.

“C’ mon. That uniform looks questionable. And you have to work in the morning.” Alice groaned at Min’s words. Min laughed lightly, “Relax, boo. I’ll cover the shifts with you for the rest of the week.”

It was a quiet drive from the shop to Min’s apartment in the city. Alice shivered within Min’s large dress jacket that hung on her frame. His subtle cologne was clinging to the material but it was mixed with something floral and she couldn’t quite place it.

Her mouth fell open on seeing Min’s well to do apartment that lay closer to the HUB.

“God, why even work at the excuse we call a store if you live here, Min?”

Min gave her a smile that let his eyes turn to crescents and stretched his full lips to show his radiant white teeth. But he gave her no answer as they walked into the open-plan residence.

Min approached Alice after freeing himself of his wallet and keys into the little bowl on the stand, near the door. He took the dress jacket from her and walked towards the dining table to toss the material. Alice watched and followed as he passed the vase full of blue roses.

And the scent hit her.

Min smelt of roses.

“The shower is down the hallway and the door to the left. There are a spare towel and a new toothbrush in the cupboard under the bathroom sink. I’ll get you a change of clothes. Go on. It will make you feel better.” Min instructed as he headed to his room, nudging her softly in the direction towards the bathroom.

It wasn’t long before the two were sprawled out on Min’s couch in comfy sweats and baggy shirts. Min’s tank hung off him and showed his lean built that showed some sort of work out in his routine. Alice realized that there was so much of her best friend that she didn’t know about despite sharing a post at the shop with him for almost a year.

“Minnie,” Alice broke their silence. She was almost unheard because of the television noise but she caught Min’s attention by moving her body to face him. Min hummed as he shifted eye contact from the television to his friend.

“I just wanted to say thank you for tonight.” She began quietly and ducked her head a little. Min reached over to hug Alice and she squeaked.

“You can’t thank me for something that was technically my fault. You were the one covering for me.” Min ruffled her wet hair.

“Minnie! Stop!” She smiled softly as she swatted his hands away and tried to pat down her hair, “I’m always happy to cover extra shifts. It means a little more cash in my pocket at the end of the day.”

“All the cash means nothing if you’re in danger Alice,” Min warned softly.

“Hey, Min…” Alice stared.

“Yeah?”

“What were you doing tonight? I mean, we never talk about it but I’m a little curious since you were dressed in a suit…” Alice started to mumble.

Min sighed and explained, “Family function.” He wouldn’t dare tell her about being a drug lord’s son.

It just didn’t leave a good impression.

He wrinkled his nose at that thought. Min knew he wasn’t bad, hell he wanted nothing to do with the business. But, he wasn’t stupid either.

He knew it was dangerous and he laying low was best for him. Especially since the perks included avoiding his father almost ninety percent of the time as long as he kept face for business.

When Min was dubbed a Prince, it was a doomed crowning. It was a twisted title to bear and he hated it. It led him to rebelling and staying away with his uncle rather than thriving on the money that came from blood and drugs.His mother was a wonderful woman who left behind nothing but her twin brother, who stopped his father from absorbing all of his mother’s money, and an amazing trust fund that let Min live guilt free.It was a glimmer in his miserable world even if he couldn’t take full advantage of it. He knew with the already there was aged old friction between his father and uncle, he couldn’t afford to be reckless and left the contact with his uncle to a minimum to avoid his father taking up arms.He believed alienation would best for him and anyone who dared to think of getting involved with him. He never really planned on meeting a friend like Alice but life played mysterious games.Family politics aside, Min decided to build his own life rather than to live off legacies of a dead chaebol heiress and greedy white powder king pin.

Alice had simply nodded after noticing the clipped answer coupled with the frowning expression and yawned.

“Come. It’s been quite the night, you should sleep Alice.” Min spoke softly before securing her into a comfortable hold around her and settled them on the couch-turned-bed to sleep for a few hours.

Min’s hold was strange… she knew he was doing out of the need of being comforting and calming and eventually Alice appreciated the gesture. Maybe their friendship could grow closer.

With the promise of one nice thing in her life, Alice felt safe enough to sleep.

Blue eyes.

Cold blue eyes.

Blue roses.

The roses bloomed in his eyes.

There’s a glimmer of cold metal reflecting in those swirling pools of ice.

Full pink lips tugged at the corners into a sinful smirk. The plush flesh parted to speak. His lips moved but Min’s voice flowed from the lips.

It was disturbing; it was like poison in the form of honey.

Alice... Alice... Alice…

Cold hands snared their grip on her. Gun abandoned before her eyes, testing and tempting her.

Alice… Alice... Alice...

Alice jolted up from Min’s hold.

There was sweat coating her temples and nape and her hair came undone from her bun. It mixed with the sweat, clinging uncomfortably to her skin. Feeling around, she found her phone. It was six in the morning. She panicked as she dwelt on her dream.

She dreamt of the criminal who unnerved her beyond comprehension the night before. She had completely forgotten about the fact that she had slept over at Min’s and she had failed to feel his arms around her. Min had said nothing and stroked over her back before rubbing soft circles at the small of her back.

“Min…” she cracked, still stunned.

“You’re okay, Alice, its trauma and it will pass. You were having a bad dream but you’re perfectly safe.” He assured her softly as his morning voice filled her ears. It was so strange seeing the different side of Min outside of work.

“Do you want to come to work or stay here?” Min asked gently, fingers combing through her hair gently.

“I’m a big girl. I can handle this, Min. Besides I need cash for my shoddy apartment.” Alice scoffed and smiled. Min laughed, “Why work when you own my ass and paychecks too?” He teased her and she lightly punched him.

“You’re one to ask about working when you own this nifty apartment – we’re practically in the HUB. How do you afford it?” Alice playfully questioned.

“Hey, firstly, the HUB is twenty minutes even from here and secondly; I fund everything through my prostitution ring.” He said flatly and Alice’s face dropped in horror and she smacked his bicep because she had known Min to be nothing but a gentleman.

“Ow… joking, Alice. I meant to say trust fund.”

“You’re an utter brat!” She practically yelled and Min threw his head back laughing.

“So what’s your allowance like?”

“Three times our Christmas bonus…” her mouth dropped open,”… put together.” Min felt like wincing saying it out aloud.

“Alright, no more talk of money before I cry.” Alice dramatically shook her head.

“Alice, why didn’t you say? You could have said something about it if you were having trouble financially.” Min already had the beginnings of his frown on his face.

“Look, Min, up until last night, we’ve never been this close so I couldn’t say anything. I don’t like talking about money because it usually ends up in favors and I don’t like racking up a list of people I owe shit to. That list is long enough as it is.”

“But I’d never –“ Min started but he forced into silence when Alice left to shower and he sighed. She was struggling.

Well, Min decided, it looks like Alice gets two paycheques a month because she needed it.

The next morning was a flurry of events for Alice.

The morning included a sketchy police officer questioning half-heartedly, a distracted sketch artist who wasn’t even listening to her and a very lackluster investigation of the store – they hadn’t even bothered to take pictures or check for fingerprints! They left after talking for a lengthy period with Mr. Yang and claiming all their security tapes.

Even after enduring the infuriating process with the authorities, Alice had to manage with a whiny prolonged rant that Mr. Yang indulged in about the loss of money. It was exhausting to even think about the deal with anyone else for the day – not exactly a fitting mood for a person who had a people’s-person-type of job.

It was the first time Min saw the man so skittish. He looked pale and had cold sweat sheening on his skin. It was plastering the thin dirty brown hair to his skin. All in all, the superior wasn’t a very pleasant sight to see, not that he was under general circumstances.

Aside from the astounding view, his attitude became foul as he ordered and yelled at Alice and Min through the store. Min was almost tempted to upturn part of his trust fund allowance from his pockets and into the register till just to let the man off their backs. But the idea was tossed aside after Min figured the man would turn into a blood-sucking leech if he discovered the little trickle of cash from Min.

Once the man saw his cash register flowing halfway with money, he left. Alice heaved a sigh as she leaned against the counter.

“God, he’s a nightmare.” She breathed out as Mr. Yang shut the door behind him on his way out.

“I second that.” Min huffed as he chucked the broom into the supply cupboard.

“Hey, Minnie…”

“Yeah?” He called out for a moment before he returned to the counter – Alice had settled for manning the till for the morning shift.

“You think they’re going to catch whoever robbed the store?”

“I hope so,” Min spoke with a traitorous mouth because his mind was telling him it’s highly unlikely – everyone in the Undercity was on someone’s payroll. It’s one of the tricks Lee Household used but Min didn’t know the extent of the details behind it.

Min and Alice carried out double shifts together for about three days until they were utterly and fantastically exhausted so they closed up the store for one evening to sleep. It was approaching eleven and it was a quiet night.

Scratch that, it was dead for the night – not a soul was in sight after sundown even since word had gotten around about the robbery heists reaching their districts.

So upon closing the doors; clean up commenced with Min singing and dancing with his broom while Alice giggled lightly as she packed the shelves and wiped the counter down. She watched at how surprisingly nimble he was when he stepped on the bristle head and spun on it coolly.

Finally done and discarding the gross uniforms into a laundry bag that was placed at the door; Min yanked on his hoodie and flicked his wrists with the material in his grip to throw the hood on. The laundry bag was to be taken to the little laundry service that was just a door down from the store.

Min’s black Charger roared while Alice snapped the final lock in place before tumbling over to the side of the car, riding shotgun. With that, the two settled and drove to Min’s apartment to crash for the rest of the night.

What the two didn’t notice was that they were being watched.

Across the dark car park, where the neon signs died and buzzed annoyingly, sat a dark Chevy Impala. The lone rider sat with a tick in his jaw.

He was angry. The frosty eyes blazed with a fire behind them as he watched the girl. Gritting his teeth, his grip tightened on the steering wheel in frustration.

Four days.

It had been four fucking days and he couldn’t do anything.

Tae was cursing this store to hell and back. Let alone the store, he cursed the blasted girl who worked there. The project was a success and the boss managed to squeeze the money out of the client but…

There just had to be a ‘but’!

Tae growled out.

Thanks to the old man not being entirely useless, a corrupt police officer oversaw the series of shop robberies to cover Tae’s tracks and there wasn’t much since Tae worked cleanly but that last time. He was a bit cocky and he flushed out on a witness according to her report – it seems that pure terror didn’t work in his favor – instead of making her blank on his face, it engraved itself into her memory.

She just had to remember how I looked.

This girl had a thorn in his side at that very moment because the boss refused to pay him out. The old man still considered the job incomplete with the loose ends.

Tae was considering on making the old man a loose end. He was tired of the shit the old man put him through and constantly being nit-picked for his jobs.

At first, he accepted it because it kept him good at what he does and left him breathing easy knowing that he covered his ass but these cleanup jobs… It made him feel more at risk than anything.

Just a little longer.

Min was tired.

Life had become increasingly demanding for Min since the turn of events. Truthfully, it wasn’t as difficult as Min made it out to be, it was just progressively draining – he felt like he was robbing himself of the sleep he usually indulged in by running double time with Alice.

A selfish part of him wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed for a week straight without any sort of regret. He wanted to laze about and roll around in his sheets without any sort of consequence banging on his door. He probably would tire of sleeping and move all of his favourite books into bed with him to read contently. However, in the end, his guilt outweighed his selfishness, so he kept watch of Alice.

The days had come to pass easily as Min and Alice had slipped into the routine of both working the long hours and manning the store through the double shifts. Their boss was unhappy about the extra cash he had to pay out, despite the second shift only being a half shift.

Min felt relief wash at him as he noticed that Alice wasn’t struggling so much anymore – the extra cash in her pocket had made life a little less stressful for her – it was on one afternoon in the shop that she had told Min about she was able to make payments towards her outstanding bills and she was even able to pay people that she owed money to back in small amounts.

However she hadn’t tolerated the way Min had crashed into her apartment and declared to help around as if he was a roommate and not a guest. It left her ticked and smothered with the way he was micromanaging her apartment.

Having enough of Min’s overbearing ways and how he was wearing himself thin with guilt; she eventually managed to kick him out as they came to a compromise on conditions.

Alice had firmly stated that Min was no longer welcome to her apartment unless he was a day guest. She had also drilled into Min that he was only allowed to come to work with her in the morning until lunch and then head home to sleep before coming back to work for the full nightly shift with her.

Alice tried not to give in when she saw how Min sighed dejectedly, he was exhausted – the waxy look of his skin and dark circles were enough to show her than Min needed the sleep, and gave in.

Alice felt pleased with her triumph and reassured Min with a hug before shoving him out of her apartment, all in good nature and giggles.

- - -

Min adjusted to the new conditions slowly – his internal clocking taking the brunt of the change in patterns, however Min managed to slip into a flexible routine around the imposed timetable of Alice’s liking, and life fell back into rhythm.

The pattern began to lull Min’s life – he’d work half a shift in the morning, get yelled at Mr Yang, nap at home until he was woken up by his hunger, then head back to the store to spend the night with Alice before closing up and dropping her off at her apartment – yet Min was using the lulling sense to ignore the little distressing collection of texts on his phone.

The thread was lengthy, having accumulated in such a short period of a mere two weeks, but it was more or less the same message though no matter how differently it was worded, Min ignored it.

He assumed out of sight was out of mind and the fuck out of his life.

All of them weren’t really alarming but they all came from a private number that said the same thing.

Unknown: Come home, Min.

Min would see the notification of the text and ignored each and every single time. He didn’t want to go “Home”.

It wasn’t home.

It was a place of business.

And there was no family figure calling him back.

It was just someone with authority over him and demanding his presence.

- - -

That evening started like any other; when Min woke from his nap, he realised that he had woken up to a very dull day – his apartment was quite dark even with the grey light streamed in quite poorly through his thin curtains.

It’s going to get dark quickly this evening.

He heard the buzz of his cell phone as the device rattled against his wooden nightstand.

It was a text.

He flipped over, blonde mane splaying and sheets twisting in every direction as he did so, to reach the phone. The bright light left Min blinking a few times before he could focus on the screen in front of him.

Same message.

Same demand.

Unknown: Come Home.

He ignored the message and scoffed. He decided to text Alice.

MinMin: Good morning, boo.

He stifled a chuckle because it had become a habit because of the new routine. Min was the only person to greet Alice at four in the afternoon with a good morning text.

The text wasn’t anything significant. It was just to make sure she was fine and inform her that he would be on his way to work around six-ish.

Feeling sleep still clinging to him, Min let the lethargic sensation settle in his bones as he lay in bed for little longer.

Even as he was slipping back into sleep, at the back of Min’s mind, he was lost in thought over his current situation.

Should I do something about it?

Should I answer so the messages stop?

He brushed it off about half hour later when his stomach made a whale call.

Rolling out of bed, Min hauled himself to the kitchen for an instant ramen cup and yanked out a buddy bottle of coke from his fridge.

He sat the boiling cup down as the heat trailed hot wisps and a delicious aroma into the air while his coke fizzed nosily next to it.

Min puffed a breath across the ramen to cool it before delving his slim metal chopsticks into them. He settled to interfere with a blue rose in the vase as he ate, playfully prodding the smooth metal against the delicate membrane of the petal to the beat of the music he had been playing softly. It was enough to play with the rose without bruising the small flower.

It was a quick meal and he then rushed off to the shower before tugging on skinny jeans and a form fitting tank to go under the gross garment called a uniform. He refused for that material to make more contact to his skin than he allowed without dying of heat stroke.

He pulled on his baggy soft hoodie after glossing over his reflection in a mirror, mindful of his wild hair – patting down the mess of straight tufts into a decent and presentable look.

Jogging toward the door of his apartment, Min reached out to grab his set of keys and his wallet. Min had been stuffing his wallet into his jeans pocket when his fingertips grazed the bottom of the glass bowl.

His keys were missing.

That’s strange.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he knew he kept it in the little glass bowl.

There wasn’t much place on the little, wooden, ornament stand to lose the keys. He lifted the bowl and then flopped to the floor, pulling out his phone for the flashlight, and checked under and behind the stand to see if they had fallen over. He couldn’t have misplaced them knowing he had placed them in that particular spot merely a few hours ago.

Min took the opportunity to use his phone and shot a text to Alice saying he was going to be late because he misplaced his keys. He then turned back to bedroom to turn it upside down in search of keys.

MinMin: Uh… might be late. I can’t find my keys.

                                            Alice:  Again, Minnie? I can’t believe how careless you are.

MinMin: I’m not T_T I just misplaced them.

His search didn’t get far and he was beginning to worry as it was already dark – he needed to switch on some lights before he left home.

He was sifting through his desk of stuff in his bedroom when he heard a shattering sound from the living room.

Running toward the sound, he found his living room in darkness, save the disordered neon lights spilling its coloured rays in through the blinds of his window, and his vase of blue roses smashed on the floor. The glass shards glimmering as the water coated them and the roses were strewn messily.

Min’s eyes searched the darkness.

He needed to figure out how to side step all the glass and reach the light switch near the door.

Min swore he saw something move about on the other end of his living room, the shadow swopping past his windows.

“Wha –“ Min spluttered for a second, blinking into the darkness.

He figured it was his mind playing games with him – it couldn’t be a robbery, not on the sixth floor of the building. He was about shuffle over to the light switch.

“Hi, Minnie.”

A deep masculine voice rumbled in Min’s ear as hot breath licked his neck.

Min jerked away, alarm coating him with a cold sweat. He backed away when he heard chuckling. It wasn’t the happy kind. It was the type that mocked one when vulnerable.

Fuck.

“Your look may have changed but you haven’t changed a bit.” Min heard movement and guessed that the figure sat down. Min squinted as his eyes adjusted in the dark and noticed this person’s clothes had blended with the darkness.

“What are you doing here, Kai?” Min snapped at the man, padding over and side stepping glass shards as he flipped a switch to reveal the man before him.

“No need to be so hostile.”

The man drawled as he sat smugly, cushioned into the sofa. He was dressed as usual – dark smart dress shirt and dark stiff pants with shiny dress shoes. The pants hiked a little and exposed his ankles as he crossed his long legs at the knees while he had his arms lining the top of the sofa – sprawled lazily.

Kim Kai in one word is handsome, devilishly at that, since his gorgeous hue of skin seemed to be glowing with the soft lighting. His eyes had a dangerous gleam to his cutting gaze. He sat with his head canted to the side, showing off the ridiculous tilt of his jawline while his plush lips were sporting a smirk.

He appeared to be fairing for the better in comparison to Min – Min had just barely managed to recover from his dark circles and yet Kai always managed to look good without a single lock of hair out of place. It made Min internally groan when he remembered he was all wild hair and the remnants of dark circles.

Kai’s smirk grew into a heart-stopping smile. It was dazzling and no one as wicked as him should be blessed with that kind of smile. He had that stupidly charming ability to do that – he was so hot and so cold.

Kai always said his day job allowed him to do that.

Min scowled at that thought, since when did he care about what Kai said?

Kai had told Min many things.

Believable things and unbelievable things – pretty lies as Min liked to call them.

“You’ve broken into my apartment. I do believe it calls for hostile measures.”

His voice deceived with its velvet likeness, “Aww, Minnie. I missed you. And I know you’ve missed me dearly.”

“Shut up!” Min snapped.

“I’ve tried texting you, do you know that?”

“I’ve blocked you.” He deadpanned his lie to seem believable.

“Liar… I know you still get my messages. Don’t you feel bad when I say I miss you and want to see you?” Kai grinned.

“Don’t say that! You last saw me at th – “ Min spat.

“At the party? I remember exchanging formalities but beyond that you ignored me and you’re a terrible host, Minnie. You left your own party.” Kai arched a perfect eyebrow at the blonde, his eye contact made Min want to shy away – he knew Kai would see the guilt.

Min had deliberately ignored Kai.

But then Min caught himself.

He had all right to act cold towards whoever he wanted to because he didn’t care about the party or who was at it.

“It wasn’t my party. It was Father’s party.” Min rolled his eyes as he scoffed.

“Technicalities, Minnie. But you avoided me that night.” Kai tutted lightly, shaking his head with amusement at Min.

“Is that what I was doing?” Min spat, scowling at Kai. He had no right to accuse Min.

“Hmm. I just wanted to see you and talk to you.” Kai spoke gently; his tone almost didn’t match his cold presence.

“Like we are now?” Min asked with the impatience in his voice visible.

“Yes.”

“Mission accomplished. Now leave, Kim Kai. I don’t need you –”

“Yes, I know you don’t need me. But I think you’d want me here, isn’t that right, Minnie? You can drop your cold and aloof act. It’s just us alone, Minnie.” Kai interrupted Min and took over the conversation.

Min blanched at Kai’s words as Kai spoke softly and grinned at him.

“You didn’t need to see me alone, Kai. Besides you speak as if my actions towards you change based on whoever is present in the room.” Min picked his words carefully as his eyes fell to the blue rose that twirled between his slim fingers. Kai had slim silver bands on some of his fingers. Min had never felt as susceptible as the delicate flower until he was under Kai’s intense gaze.

“Hmm… Well, yes, it is something that is not needed but it’s something I want.” Kai shot back as he looked over Min from the rips in his jeans to the loose hoodie slipping of his shoulder. He didn’t like that look in Kai’s eyes.

“I don’t care about what you want. You’re not welcome here. Don’t you have someone else to try these games with?” The blonde huffed, clearly vexed.

Kai almost looked hurt as he pouted.

“You’re hurting me, Min. I’m not playing a game. That would be mean of me.”

Min’s jaw dropped.

Kai was mean and everything more. He was only nice to look at.

Face full of sharp angles on smooth planes with alluring eyes.

Soft kissable lips that seemed to pout with every word he spoke.

NO!

His lips aren’t kissable.

He even had that fucking prince charming styled hair – all pushed back and teased just right.

The dark locks even highlighted angelically when the light caught his hair right.

It infuriated Min to no end that the amount of beauty Kai had been blessed with was matched equally with the essence of being a bastard.

Composing himself, Min schooled his expression before speaking.

“You’re joking, right? You’re really going to say that after everything that’s happened? You’re such an asshole, Kai. Get out of my apartment.” Min ignored his pout and proceeded to be cold towards him with furrowing eyebrows.

Heaving a dramatic sigh, Kai got up and walked towards Min.

Min felt like shrinking back as Kai’s lean looming aura of black approached. But Min silently congratulated himself as he stood his ground, completely feigning unfazed as Kai invaded his personal space, being a hair’s breadth away from him.

Ugh. He was obnoxiously intoxicating.

His cologne was as if it was intertwined with the dark black fibres of the cotton in his dress shirt.

And his smirk was back on his face.

Min resisted punching him despite the fact that he was in temptingly close proximity.

Min knew the punch wouldn’t work out.

He has tried it before.

That had been a time when they were both much younger and Kai was barely taller than Min. Min also liked to block out the fact that Kai was in training at that point of their lives.

But in that moment while Min glared and silently cussing at Kai, he took in the latter’s appearance more carefully; the lanky male was so much taller than him as compared to that last time Min tried to punch him. He also cursed Kai for being much broader, and judging by the way Kai filled out his dress shirt he was a great deal stronger than Min.

He wasn’t stupid; he knew Kai had keen reflexes.

Rude fucker with amazing abilities.

Kai’s grin seemed to look more mischievous than sinister as he towered over Min. An arm snaked around Min’s waist and reeled the shorter blonde in.

“C’mhere, Minnie.” Kai mumbled out.

Min struggled but Kai squeezed firmly to signal for stillness as the taller reined Min flush against him. He frowned and fought the heat climbing his neck for almost tripping into Kai’s chest in the process.

Min felt his stomach swoop, he really shouldn’t be feeling the way he was.

But he felt the heat intensify as he was practically being moulded against Kai. It didn’t help him at all as he felt the arm around his waist tighten its grip.

“I love how you try to throw insults at me. Maybe you care enough not to hurt my feelings. What do you think, Minnie?” Kai was all too pleased and complacent about their position and situation.

“As if you have feelings, Kai.” Min scoffed and mumbled out the insult.

Kai let out a breathy laugh, swiftly ignoring Min’s quip, and brought his free hand up to Min’s head. His large warm hand ran through Min’s hair and Min fought the urge to shut his eyes and let the shiver rattle through his frame.

“It was black a long time ago.” Kai’s voice had something akin to wonderment to its usual velvet tone.

Kai watched Min with a frighteningly fascinated expression. Kai looked at Min, with light eyes, as if Min was an entirely new person and he needed to memorise every new detail with the dyed locks that flopped effortless between his fingertips.

How the hell does he have a puppy like mode?

Min couldn’t bear the overwhelming feeling any longer, he had shut his eyes and shuddered as the fingertips dragged lazily against his scalp and dragged back until his nape; the dull pressure was pleasant and soothing as it hit all the right nerves, even as Kai rested his hand on Min’s nape, he hadn’t halted the way his fingers were carding through his hair.

“Stop touching me, Kai.” Min had opened his eyes, blinking a little before he could catch his bearings and frowned. He had tilted his head to escape from Kai’s touch.

“You never seemed to have a problem with me touching you before.” Kai’s fingers climbed back into Min’s hair and bent closer, lowering his face to Min’s.

“Stop while I’m asking you nicely or I remove your hand myself.” Min’s hand was already on Kai’s wrist as he glared heatedly; deliberately ignoring how they were just inches shy from kissing.

Kai chuckled darkly and his eyes sparkled at the threat, “Play nice, Minnie. We aren’t even playing properly yet.” Kai had this nasty habit of smiling with half of his bottom lip being tucked under his teeth. Kai seemed to enjoy making Min squirm under his touch despite the determined attitude Min was dishing out.

Min finally had enough because he knew Kai wasn’t taking him seriously and shoved Kai off him. Kai gasped at the sudden change and looked like a kicked pup.

“Minnie…” He says quietly.

“No. Leave, Kai. I can’t have you around me… again. It would be a waste of our time.” Min’s voice sounded shaky as he watched the mix of emotions fly across Kai’s face before settling for a blank look.

“Fine.” Kai growled out as he walked to the door and draped his frame against it – his body language screaming irritation and indignation.

There was a beat of silence – thick and filled with tension.

Min hated Kai’s silence. It was always a scary thing to experience because it meant the man was thinking and that was never a good sign. Kim Kai can be as every bit infuriating as he is when he’s talking because he makes his silence pointed.

Min wished he didn’t know the man so well.

He had chanced a look at Kai and almost flinched – he knew that look. Kai was calculating his next move.

“Here, Min.”

A tinkle was heard and Min stepped back, colliding into the wall behind him, and grabbed at the glint thrown at him. Min looked down into his palms after he recognised the familiar weight in them.

Keys.

Kai had them all this time.

Min’s head snapped up and looked to Kai, whose expressions had changed again.

“I did come for another reason, anyway.” Kai sniffed.

Min didn’t think Kim Kai was still capable of a sulk but a sulk meant he was in a miffed mood.

“You’ve been wanted back home, you know?” Kai drawled the statement and Min couldn’t comprehend how he was back to being indifferent.

Kicking off from the door, Kai was on the move again. Min watched him guardedly, eyed steadily trailing his movements.

“So? My father wants a lot of things, why do you care?” Min icily replied.

Kai’s sinful lips quirked, “I don’t. But as his right hand, I do agree with him. I think having you back home would be nice. It gets a little lonely, you know? The hallways are always dark, the rooms are always deserted and my bed is always so so cold, Minnie.”

Min felt an unneeded sting. Kai really shouldn’t be looking at him like some object.

After everything they knew about each other, Kai couldn’t really mean that Min was just for pleasure in his eyes.

Not that he wanted anything more with Kai. He just assumed he had more respect from Kai.

Min was slightly distracted with his thoughts to notice that Kai had caged him in with strong arms, stupid leering look on his face.

“And I know that you’d be just so warm under my touch.” Kai whispered as he bent his head towards Min.

Min really wanted to hurt him and he still didn’t understand why his throat felt like it was closing up uncomfortably.

“I’m not coming home. There’s no scheduled meeting nor is there any function to attend so I’m not needed.” Min still stayed strong and tilted his head to seem arrogant. Kai grinned maliciously upon seeing the defiance in Min’s eyes.

“Oh, but you are needed back home. Something promising has come up. Think of it as a surprise invitation for a special visit!” Kai perked up even more, licking dried lips – really that isn’t good for my health, Min thought. Kai’s hot breath fanned across Min’s face as he breathed slowly.

Min swore he didn’t inhale the scent of mint and that he didn’t feel the coolness of it settle in his bones with a knowing and wanting ache.

“I’m not interested.” Min glowered.

“Minnie, you can’t be selfish when it comes to this business. We’re all counting on you.” Kai urged him enthusiastically.

“Why me?” Min raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’re the next generation of Lee Household, aren’t you?” Kai asked, amusement lacing his tone.

“No. You are, Kai. Not me.” Min deadpanned.

“Your father still plans to name you his successor and I will obviously be the one to be your personal right hand…ever ready to serve any of your needs.” Kai grinned, apparently quite proud with his innuendo.

“Tell him no. I don’t care for being the successor. I don’t care about a right hand. I really have no interest in the business, unlike you.” Min huffed hotly.

“What if it was my personal invitation? Come home, Minnie, I promise I’ll make it worth it.” Kai breathed.

“All the more reason to reject such an invite because you like to lie, Kai. You don’t keep promises.” Min spat.

“Minnie, you’re being unreasonably cruel to me. Don’t you care about me anymore? Don’t I mean anything to you?” Kai admonished him mockingly, dashing smile on his features, but Min wasn’t going to entertain it.

“No. Now. Get. Out. Kai.” Min enunciated every word with as much hate as he could muster. He was in no mood for his father or his father’s right hand lapdog to be interfering with him.

Kai’s face failed to stop the scowl before he steeled his expression indifferent and straightened up. Kai was rather intimidating when he put on a complete blank look; one could never tell what he was thinking when his eyes looked so dark.

He dusted his clothes off and left silently but not without slamming the door, the thin piece of wood rattling in its frame.

Min leaned against the wall as he steadied his uneven breathing. He hated how flushed and off kilter Kai left him, especially after all these years. He spent a good minute mentally ranting every capable cuss at Kai for showing his face.

Min yanked out his phone realising how late it was and he had left Alice for so long.

Suddenly, a deafening noise was emitted as the wooden stand exploded into a million splintering shards.

The little bowl on the once intact stand smashed into the wall and shattered. Min dived just in time to escape the shards of glass and wood that rained down on his shielding arm, silently thanking the soft hoodie that protected his arm.

He scrambled to sit up when his back hit the wall again, looking at the burning mess with wide eyes. His breathing was erratic and muddled up with coughs from the thickening smoke. His mind was all over the place from the thunderous boom of the explosion.

What. The. Fuck.

Min’s phone cried out in his hand and its ringtone seemed ear-splitting as it echoed in the now ruined section of the apartment.

With Min’s disorientation, he swiped against the screen and answered the call.

“You know, Minnie, the funny thing about our little conversation was that you spoke as if it was a request for you to come back home. You will come back home, even if it means me blowing up every single thing in that pretty little apartment of yours before dragging you back, Minnie. I trust you can make the wise choice. See you soon.”

Kai’s wicked voice crackled through the receiver, his words were slow and calculated but his tone was dripping with poorly veiled irritation.

Min knew he was still seething from the moment he left the apartment. The call gets cut before Min has any input and was left with his jaw hanging at his phone as if stunned.

Everything became blurry to Min at that moment as he lost all focus and his surroundings blended into a grey haze until the pop of blue caught his eye. But he ignored the pop since it’s the thing that brought him back into focus.

Min realised belatedly he can’t have his apartment burned down before him.

In a fumble and flurry, he has his duvet wet and thrown over the burning wood to douse the flames before wrenching windows open to let the smoke out.

Great.

Just great.

His father’s bloodhound was on his trail and it appeared like he developed an affinity towards pyro-techniques and explosives.

Min cleaned up the glass and tosses his blue roses in the bin. He was too distressed to care for the delicate beauties.

If it was any other time he would have dried out the petals or pressed the roses in between a few of his many, many novels because faded blue against ink was a type of image Min loved and what was better than rose mixing with the thick scent of books. It was even prettier when the pages stained with the colour of the flower or imprinted its form into the paper.

Min sat quietly in the apartment long after the fire has died down to contemplate what to do. He didn’t think that his slight rebelling would result in Kim Kai on his doorstep.

And of all the people to send.

Kim Kai!

Why?

Knowing the bastard, he probably volunteered to do so.

Min bit his lip as his mind raced with all the options he had. To sum it up, Min had barely any to begin with.

This spells messy if I don’t go back.

It’s not even home.

In the end, Min gave in and decided.

He picked up his phone and scrolled through his contact list. He breathed raggedly as the dial tone rang through his entire being. It was always one of the most difficult phone calls ever in his life. His eyes caught the pop of blue again and it came from the sofa opposite him.

It was one of the blue roses he missed.

Kai’s stupid rose.

Nay, the rose isn’t stupid. It was the poor rose that stupid Kai had snatched from the vase.

And he broke said vase.

I’m going to strangle him.

After he buys me a new vase, I’ll definitely strangle him.

The call connected and Min was pulled from his musing rant and felt like he forgot how to breathe for a moment.

Of course, there was no greeting or prompt from the other end of the line.

“I’ll come back.”

A pause.

Min knew the other end of the line felt victory. Especially when his voice came out strangled. He was choking on his own pride at that very moment.

“B-But… But… Just give me time.” Min practically pleaded.

“Two days. Or you will be fetched.”

Min shivered at that thought and tried not to imagine being forcibly taken and delivered home. The call ended abruptly and left the blonde feeling awfully defeated.

Min glared at the rose. He doesn’t, for the life of him, remember when Kai had abandoned the flower. Min felt a whole hearted urge to burn that rose. But he couldn’t take his anger out on the defenceless floret.

Well, nothing I can change now.

Maybe Min would have a blue rose to press into his novel after all.

---

Min made his way to the store that night.

His music was cranked a little louder than usual in his car and he drove a little faster than he intended to. His phone screamed atop the music for attention.

Min dropped the volume and slid his finger across the screen for the nth time for the night and sets to loudspeaker with a light tap.

“News just reached me. I heard someone is finally coming home” – a pause – “Boo, Minnie, I thought you were going to make this fun for me. For us. I mean, you didn’t even let it get exciting.”

“You and I have very different ideas of exciting.” Min scoffed.

“I actually was convinced I would have to chase you down and bring you back. Did I scare you too much this evening? I’m dreadfully sorry” – he doesn’t sound apologetic in the least sense – “It was an extreme measure.”

“Extreme?!” Min thundered.

“But since you’ve cut our playtime short, you’re going to have to make it up to me.” Kai continued without being fazed by Min’s outbursts.

“Fuck you, Kim Kai.” Min hissed under his breath.

“Now, now, Minnie. I do believe you have to be nice to me. After all I am the one in charge of making sure the Manor is nice and cozy for you.”

“Cosy?” The blonde felt a little dumbstruck after hearing those words.

“Hmm… I have a feeling you and I are going to spend lots of time together when you get home. I look forward to it.” Kai’s voice had dropped an octave.

Min was thankful that Kai couldn’t see the way he had shuddered – his mind doing the evil thing and imagining what Kai could be possibly talking about, would his voice sound like that too? – But all he could do was snarl as Kai’s husky laugh filled the car and cut the call.

Min pulled over and panicked after the call.

He really shouldn’t be getting so wound up over Kai. He needed to not let the other get under his skin so easily. If it was as easy as said then why was Min sitting in his car, which was parked on the side of the road, while he ran his hands through his hair in a freaked manner?

He needed to get over his mood. He couldn’t linger long in the dark in his car within the Undercity, even if it was early evening. Min knew he had to get to Alice.

His mood soured even further when a dark Chevy Impala cut him off but swerved into the opposite direction of the city as Min took the right turn towards the store.

He shuffled in through the front, instead of the back like he usually does so.

Despite his mucked up mood, the night rolled on like it was normal. He dodged the concerned questions from Alice – she knew something was definitely wrong when he came in smelling faintly of smoke and she had commented on how awfully quiet he was through their shift – and brushed it off as exhaustion.

It was a normal night.

So normal, the night missed the Chevy Impala that usually parked across the parking lot of the store.

Min sighed.

His heartfelt too heavy in his chest and his legs felt too stiff to walk. It was a good thing he was glued to the parapet he had been seated on. It was the day before Min had to leave and go back home.

His father had given him two days of freedom before he returned home, but as Min watched the last of the sunset from the roof of his apartment building he felt like time had slipped away from him far too quickly to his liking.

Going back home shouldn’t be such a headache but Min didn’t come from a home like everyone else. Home, as it was affectionately called, was a Manor located on an estate that tucked away a few hours from the Undercity where Min lived.

Home.

Min truly wondered where home was.

He questioned if it was in a debauched manner that was crawling with criminals or was it instant noodles with Alice on Sunday nights in her rundown apartment.

Min felt like he had wasted his time.

He tugged at his red polar neck as it seemed to strangle him. He had immediately regretted pulling the warm material away as the cold evening air nipped at his neck.

Min hissed as he let material snap back and molded over his skin, bump in the fabric over his Adam’s apple. His hand that was fiddling at the material had tangled the slim digits in the raw leather tie trimming on the sweater itself, the fingertips barely grazing the raw leather knot.

Min had spent the day before crashing at Alice’s place since he was going away for a few days or so he told her.

But at that moment, Min regretted leaving his brown pelt jacket on the sofa before climbing at the rooftop. He clung onto himself, hands rubbing at his arms to warm himself up as he watched the dying hues of orange being consumed by the plumbing navy over the sky.

Min decided he had spent too much time on the roof and it was time to retire to the apartment.

Trudging back to his apartment, Min had climbed down the building’s fire escape stairs – it was two flights up to the roof from his floor before he climbed back in through his apartment window.

He had kicked off his boots and yanked off the sweater, welcoming the internal artificial heating of the place. The red material lay discarded on the wooden floor as his socks padded over to his room and grabbed his grey tank.

On his way back to his the living room; Min had waltzed into the kitchen and whisked a wine glass and a bottle of wine into his grip. Min settled himself on the white rug and tilted the bottle to watch the red rubies flow into his glass.

Min hated that he was going back.

He was going to see Kai and his father and his so-called old friends and those pompous bastards called clients. The entire place would be filled with subordinates – nervous cowards or overconfident bastards – and every single of them glared – envious or sneering – at him when he was around when they thought Min wasn’t aware of their gaze on him.

But he didn’t mind returning the notion with a disgusted look.

After all, that was who Prince Min was – a haughty sheltered child who was ungrateful for the legacy that he was inheriting.

Min hated the business.

He only kept face with it to not get shot by his father.

Min’s sip was heavy as he drained long and deep from the glass before swallowing thickly, the gulp bobbed his Adam’s apple. It felt like he was trying to swallow the decision before him rather than liquid.

Min continued to drink lazily into the late hours of the night. The bottle was near the end but Min still felt too awake with his thoughts.

Throwing his head back to cushion off the sofa, Min groaned aloud – frustration hitting its peak. He closed his eyes in some vain hope of it being a dream but his phone shattered the illusion as it blared as it lay on the carpet.

It made the male snap his head back to look at the cell phone.

Kai was blowing up his phone at the unsavory hour so he glossed over the thread of messages with a glare as he swirled the liquid in his glass by the slow flicks of his wrist.

KimKai:                 I know you can see this msg.

KimKai:                 Can’t wait to see you ;)

KimKai:                 Text me, Minnie.

KimKai:                 What are you doing now?

KimKai:                 Minnie, babe…

KimKai:                 Minnie.

KimKai:                 You know, it’s considered rude to not text back.

KimKai:                 Its worse when you leave someone on read.

KimKai:                 Lee Min.

KimKai:                 Answer me...

KimKai:                 Can I call you?

He noticed Kai was also leaving voicemail messages for him.

And Min hoped Kai would notice how he was ignoring those, too.

Min threw his head back again to down the remaining wine before going on to pursue one last glass – which turned into a lie and Min drank until he made a grip for the bottle neck but it was all empty.

He huffed and rattled the empty bottle in his hand, watching the bottle mouth sway side to side as his background faded to a blur with the lack of focus in his vision. Min eventually broke the rhythm of swaying bottle and let the bottle go as his wrist fell limp and the neck escaped his grip, rolling across the floor, dully as it rolled over the fuzzy white fluffiness of his rug.

Min sighed.

The sweet wine couldn’t stop the way the bitter taste in his mouth coated over quickly and he wasn’t even drunk.

Not even buzzed.

Letting the empty wine glass tip over onto the carpet Min headed to bed.

Lee Min missed the last text that popped up on his phone long after he had settled into his sheets.

KimKai:                 Goodnight, Min.

- - -

It was really early, ungodly early since the sun was barely peeking through his curtains.

Min couldn’t sleep but he also knew he couldn’t look shit for the day.

The whole purpose was to keep face, right? 

Well, if his father thought he had won completely, he was wrong.

Maybe, he could anger and test his father in petty and trivial of ways.

It was a slow motion version of his morning routine since Min believed his mind was working too fast for his own body and he was annoying himself over the petty issue of dress code. He was travelling and he would love to put on his sweatpants and sneakers.

At least, he’d get to keep the sneakers but he’d endure the journey in thick tough denim.

Min blew up Alice’s phone with texts all morning long as he tried to dawdle before leaving but he checked the text thread of Alice’s chat, hoping she replied before he was on the road.

MinMin:               I really don’t feel like going today.

MinMin:               I’ll call when I get a chance.

MinMin:               I have to drive for sooooo long.

MinMin:               Make sure you wake up for work and aren’t hungover.

MinMin:               I’m leaving now : (

Seeing that there was no reply, he cranked the key in the ignition. The car hummed as he sped along. The journey to the Manor from the Undercity some good three hours away at the very least – or at least that how long Min had liked to drag out his return travels to the Manor.

His music calmed his nerves but he flinched every time a notification popped up on his phone.

Jeez.

My nerves are worse than usual.

I just need to relax.

Min did justify his jumpy behaviour as a norm because in the last few meetings with his father and the meetings were done within the Undercity – be it the restaurants or shady clubs, the awfully extravagant and pointless party and the one random political meeting at a golfing range VIP booth (a successful agreement of keeping police off their turf and their crimes silenced or downplayed considering their severity. An extra lot of cash was thrown in to be extra vigilant to rival organisations operating within their borders because even though the Lee Household was the strongest Mafia Family and others adhered to them, the other Households had a sense of independence as they were treated like partners to the Lee Household) – but Lee Min hadn’t gone back to Manor in months.

It’s just been a long time since you went back.

Min felt the car ride over too quick for his liking.

The Manor was right before him in that moment. It stood deathly pale against the sky and it loomed in its presence. The giant wrought gates swung open and his car rolled noisily against the gravel as he approached the front.

Hopping out, the Manor’s grease monkey was there to greet him – well, greet Min’s car.

His eyes widened at the car Min had arrived in – he expected a super car just like the rumours had said so but kept his mouth shut since he guessed the rumours were wrong except for the greeting before taking his car away to the garage.

Min shuddered as the greeting rung in his ear.

Young Master Lee.

Min wanted to throw up at the title. He could almost taste the way bile coated on his tongue.

He had politely rejected the offer for his bag to be brought up to his room. He had slipped out the bag from his backseat before he exited the car. The man drove off with his Charger while Min had climbed the steps to the Manor’s set of large double doors. The doors were opened the moment his car had pulled up in front of the doors.

He was greeted by the butler with the same title that made him feel a little sick on the inside.

“Greetings, Young Master Lee, I trust your travels were without issue.” The man greeted politely but had no eye contact with Min. Min had distracted replied about his travels.

“Yeah, the roads were quiet on my way here.” He mumbled as he had slipped into the large entrance hall of the Manor. He noticed it had been redecorated and the twin mirrored staircases were remodelled – smooth and dark wood panels in favour of the old porcelain tiles coupled with new wrought metal crafted balustrades.

But his trance like state was broken when a soft voice called to him.

“My little Minnie.”

Min felt his chest swell and his mood lift. The only saving grace in this hell hole was the old lady that stood before him. She was his caregiver.

Madam Kang Yoon Ah, formally acknowledged: the former caregiver and head caretaker of the Manor.

He gave up all the so-called perks of the old life when he left.

But Min forgot all about that when he walked up to the sweet lady and stooped his height down to hug her, a firm grip around her soft and warm body.

“Oh, my Minnie! I almost didn’t recognise you with the new hair colour. Won’t you ever stop dyeing your hair? Your scalp must hurt so much.” She tutted softly.

Min giggled softly and pecked her cheek affectionately.

“It hurts only a little; just on the day I actually dye it but I like the change. Doesn’t it make me look good?” He teased and flicked his hair dramatically to the side for effect.

She chuckled as she hit his bicep affectionately – Min found it endearing because when he was a child he was no higher than her knee but at his current age of twenty-six, he towered over the aged woman.

“My dear, you look too thin. Have you been eating well?”

“Yes, Halmoeni.” He grinned a little at her concern. It was kind of nice especially when he went back to a silent apartment where no one was waiting to ask him about his day or if he ate well. Min was far too used to being on his own and he had forgotten what it was like when he stayed at the Manor.

At the back of his mind, amidst the short lived happiness in the Manor, he was already wandering to the dark thought of meeting with his father. Min wondered if his father knew he had arrived already, part of him hoping he didn’t.

But considering that Madam Kang was present to greet him; it meant that the man was already expecting Min.

Madam Kang patted his cheek sweetly to get his attention again.

She smiled dearly at Min before speaking softly, “Stop frowning like that, Minnie. I know what you’re thinking. Your father knows of your arrival but he will only meet you in the evening. He is… rather busy with meetings today. For now you can freshen up and some of your friends are waiting in the hall.”

Min scoffed and breathed mirthless laughter.

“Unbelievable. My father hunts me down to come home and now; he won’t even make the time to see me?” Madam Kang’s face fell at Min’s words.

“Minnie.” She tried to soothe him delicately, rubbing his hand to calm him.

“Its fine, Halmoeni, I wasn’t looking forward to meeting Father immediately. If you would excuse me I had a very long trip and I want to freshen up and rest for a bit.” Min cut quietly. He doesn’t say anything more but only leaves after kissing Madam Kang’s cheek.

The old lady watched as Min had stalked down the cold dark hallway to his room. He whizzed at a pace that details didn’t have time to stir up memory or imprint new ones.

He was determined to make sure things remained a blur.

The room however was sickeningly familiar as nothing had changed.

His unnecessarily large bed sat to the far side of the room, from where Min stood at the thrown open double doors of his room, and there was a full length mirror with a ghastly ornamental frame mounted on the thin silver of wall that held all his windows – the windows doubled up as French balcony doors.

A cushioned and decorated chair sat beside the mirror. A door that led to connected bathroom stood opposite his bed and next to the door stood an impressive wardrobe and chest of drawers filled with all his clothes.

The odd thing about the room was the new carved table with the vase of roses – fresh white roses with their stems dipped in blue ink – the faintest of blue starting to dust the pristine petals.

Madam Kang didn’t know about his obsession for blue roses and Min was pretty sure she was aware of how he had hated white flowers.

Who could have done this?

A card?

Min dropped his bag in favour of picking up the crisp folded bone coloured card – it was completely blank on the outside so Min flicked it open to the penned words inside.

Sorry, these will have to do for now.Rain check for blue roses?Welcome Home.

He couldn’t have?

Min shoved the ridiculous thought out of his head as he walked around the room, before he approached the balcony doors and threw open the doors. He treaded out onto the balcony, absorbing the sunlight as he watched the coastline.

Just how long will I be here for?

Min had watched how the sea waves crashed over and over on the rocky coastline before he heard someone knocking on his door.

“Minnie, you haven’t freshened up yet?” Madam Kang asked.

“No, I was out on the balcony, seems like the weather is nice enough to read outside for a change.” He mused softly in favour of meeting anyone.

“It does. But you have to greet people, Minnie. Your friends are waiting. They’ve been buzzing around the Manor all week when they heard that you were coming.” Madam Kang chuckled lightly and Min knew her underlying order was put forward with her clever words.

“I suppose it would be rather rude.” He hummed as he walked over to his wardrobe and opened the doors before flicking over the row of outfits – he had snapped hanger after hanger when he wasn’t pleased with the outfits. It was ridiculous that he actually had to look presentable at all times.

 Ahh… The old clothing style.

Min scanned the wardrobe and found he refused to wear any of the outrageous clothes, little did he know Madam Kang had been watching.

“These clothes don’t suit you, Minnie.” It was more statement than question. Min nodded as he continued to stare at the wardrobe filled with clothes.

Madam Kang laughed gently and gave Min the once over look. “I assume lots of tight jeans and loud shirts?”

Min turned to her and flashed a smile, “Don’t forget the leather jackets.”

Madam Kang chuckled, “How could I have forgotten the leather jackets? You’re really looking for ways to test the Master.”

Min hummed as Madam Kang exited the room.

He looked for the least repulsive item to use and yanked out the tweed suit that had trimmings on its collar and tattered thread trimmings for its sleeves.

Min hauled himself into the shower when he realised he felt gross from the long drive. It wasn’t long until Min found himself fixing his black dress shirt and cufflinks in front of his large full length mirror with the garish gold leaf trimmed frame.

He knew he didn’t look like himself – it was just a way of fitting in to the world he was in.

He refused to be holed up in the God forsaken room.

It wasn’t a room.

It was a pretty cage to keep Min in.

Wrenching the door open, he took off and walked the dark hallways. He snorted at how the hallways were always ridiculously cluttered with antiques and always dark despite being a clear bright day.

He almost tripped when he noticed another vase filled with bluing white roses, he made out the vase filled with water that was mixed with blue ink – the royal blue hue to the water was a dead giveaway. He walked up to the vase and brushed his fingers over the roses and gasped – they were still fresh and were tended to, Min felt drops of water on his fingertips that kept the roses healthy.

The blonde male really didn’t have a destination in mind but his feet were unconsciously taking him somewhere. His stupor was broken when he found himself at the doorway into an open room – it was the Sun Hall in the Manor.

The two walls – the one opposite the entrance and the one to its right – were lined heavily with decorations and antiques. It had a rhythm to it pattern as it had alcoves – some with with heavy wooden pedestals in them or others left empty and ornamental – and the paintings that draped the walls.

Alcove. Painting. Pedestal. Painting. Alcove.

Repeat.

The other wall was lined with windows that let the sunlight steam in and make the room come to life as the dark hues began to catch light and danced off the glittering surfaces of the crystal chandeliers. The last wall held a set of double doors that were heavy and patterned with thin golden vines with leaves.

At the centre of the room was a large rug that was stomped on by a round table topped with a suffocating maroon tablecloth that had more gold leaf designs. The table was surrounded by four exquisite chairs that curved in the most interesting fashion. They were lined with golden and cushioned with a blue that matched the pattern with the table cloth.

Min had been so occupied with his brain trying to fathom all the details; he had missed the two people within the room.

“Min!”

One of the guys had called out and beckoned Min to join him and his companion at the table. Min settled into the seat with ease.

“Man, it’s good to see you again! You left the party too early, it got so crazy –“

And that was where Min tuned out the loud boy.

Min wrecked his brain for a name for this face as his formal shoes tapped soundly against the flooring.

Felix.

Felix is supposed to be a friend.

Felix was all cheekbones, auburn hair and a wide mouth that enjoyed this business more than one should. Min slipped into the cushioned chair quietly and acknowledged his story but let the two boys continue.

Min’s eyes fell to the table and he found alcohol bottles decorating it along with various piles of money and a pistol, which had been lazily tossed earlier, along with a centrepiece. Min snapped up when he found another white rose stem dipped in blue ink in the vase – the white and blue a violent colour burst on the gaudy gold room.

His eyes widened but then schooled to a passive mask and tuned the boys back in.

Why on earth were there blue roses in the Manor?

“– and Danny made him cry. He had the tip of his knife up the scrawny boy’s nostril just to get him to cough up all the cash he had on him. It wasn’t much but it was a point to prove that Daddy’s money couldn’t fix everything.” Snickered Felix as the mean streak gleamed in his steel orbs.

Danny was tossing the pile of cash around while the other boys made small talk and Min enjoyed the feeling of the sun on his skin. He watched how the wad of cash was moving to and fro between Danny and Alex until it had escaped the elastic band and the notes fluttered down like summer drizzle.

Min blinked lazily, ignoring the raining cash and sighed, he had placed his cheek in his palm that was propped up in the arm rest. He was already bored and he had no idea how long he’d be stuck at the Manor.

With his eyes on the bluing rose again, he zoned out watching the dust particles swirl around the flower.

Why would someone bring blue roses to the Manor?

Surely Kim Kai wouldn’t go this far?

What would it gain him?

A chance to bed you, Min’s mind reminded him nastily.

There was no place for roses in the Manor.

It’s amazing no one had complained yet.

He wasn’t sure how long he was lost in thought but he didn’t notice the three boys scrambling out as if their lives had depended on vacating the room because of the figure that was draped against the double doors.

- - -

Tae was infuriated.

He was at his wit’s end.

The boss wasn’t fucking kidding when he had declared a chase.

Tae had been on the run for three days straight hunting down targets and collecting goods like a madman. His muscles ached, his gun was out of ammunition and his car had suffered more than it should have.

Tae just wanted to get back to his Den for a shower, a meal and some sleep.

But there he was miles from the Den, stuck in jeans that were practically falling off his legs in ribbons of ruined fabric, matted with dirt and blood that didn’t belong to him, and his last good shirt.

He sat at the wheel of his baby. The engine was whining rather than purring. He sat with wide bloodshot eyes and white knuckles. His adrenaline was held taut like a coil, except the coil is at its threshold already. Waiting as a getaway driver was nerve wrecking, it required in the moment reflexes.

Stress ate at Tae as he had felt a million miles away from his own body.

Everything felt too disconnected.

He was sort of aware of the thrumming of his car beneath him and the ring on his index finger that was digging into the digit uncomfortably as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

He knew there was the heavy weight of his gun in his lap.

Under normal circumstances, the current scenario was a cinch but he was sleep deprived and looked slightly wild with his blue eyes in a perpetual shocked expression and his blonde hair pushed back violently. The hair that wasn’t sticking in the air clung unpleasantly to him through the sweat running down from his temple and the back of his neck.

The car doors were ripped open and two bodies threw themselves into the backseats, messily with dull cloth bags in hand, while Tae’s foot kicked at the pedal and made the car roar to life.

The loud rumble of another car deafened Tae. It was too close and Tae was making Sakura spin her wheels on the spot, the sudden speed made him lose traction.

“Lose the tail, Tae!” Denzel’s shout floated into his ear somehow amongst the blood pounding in his ears and the deafening sound of the car door shutting.

The tires pummelled at the tarmac and squealed when they changed direction. Tae growled as he threw the car into gear and swerved through the city. Twists turns and swerves occurred while mixed with cusses from the two people in the back.

“Watch it. Tae.” James threatened.

“Shut the fuck up if you want out of this alive.” Tae growled out again – it was madness to try and work a job in broad daylight within the HUB because the security was at its maximum but what Ji fucking Kwang Ho wanted was what he fucking got.

Tae was trying to hightail it back to the outskirts of the Undercity.

It was working as he weaved through peak time traffic. Tae seemed like a demon hell bent on getting away. His hand made swift work of the gear stick with quick snaps of his wrist and his other hand sliding smoothly against the steering wheel as he moved.

Kicking up dirt in the back alley, the Impala’s lithe body swung around the corner and ran through the gravel road. He had created a blind spot as he weaved another corner.  There was an open garage and he hastily rammed the car toward it halting it before the front bumper kissed the wall in front of it.

Denzel and James dashed out to make the garage door swing down not a moment later.

It was all too quick as the blonde killed the engine and ducked low in his seat, spilling out into the passenger seat and the boys threw the dirty aged sheet over the car. Tae breathed hard and heavy as he craned his every sense to hear the chase car.

He heard the car dash down the alley without stopping to look at the battered garage door. He heaved a sigh.

He knew they were in the clear as of that moment.

Tae kicked the driver’s door open with his scuffed sneakers and tumbled out under the sheet.

Well, shit, my legs are jelly. 

“Fuck!” Tae yelled as he had connected with the cement floor and grazed his cheek. James hovered over his sight line and smirked at him.

“Fuck, indeed, Tae. That was brilliant. Even you can’t stand straight. Well, not that you ever did, anyway.”

Tae grumbled and swore loudly as he shifted to prop himself up on his elbow that also gave away. Denzel barked his laughter out as he watched Tae fail. Cold blue eyes glared at him before Tae’s astonishingly light laugh filled the air in a soft sound.

Sometimes we need to laugh these things off or we might just lose our minds in the process.

“Look at that, Tae actually has the ability to laugh.”

Tae chuckled again before swearing Denzel.

“You’re driving our asses back to the Den but my baby needs care.” Tae threw a look to his car. He looked sad as he stared at the dents in the car, the multiple bullet holes and the endless scratches on the paint.

“Stop sulking like a lil bit–“James made for a start on his insult.

“Don’t speak of your mother like that, James. Now use you fucking worthless ass and get me to the car. I’m dying and I don’t want it to happen on this shitty floor. When I die, I sure as hell don’t want it to be in the crap excuse of a garage in an abandoned alley.” Tae cut out across loudly while James scowled.

The boys snickered as the lifted Tae and tossed him to the backseat.

“Fancy fucker, isn’t he, James?” Denzel snorted as he dumped Tae in the backseat, James joined when he heard the grunt of Tae through his mouth full of the leather car seat.

“Hey, you’ve only known him for around three years. I’d rather him mouthy like this because when he first joined, he wouldn’t say a word. I thought he was pretty scary but then we all found out that Tae just had a rod up his ass and never wanted to ask for help to get rid of it.” James shared conversationally.

“Oi! I’m right here and I’m the one that pays you, you shitty ingrates.” Tae growled, only managing to lift his head, it would have been more intimidating if he could shift but he really couldn’t move a muscle.

It was a silent ride back to the Den since Denzel took to napping in the passenger’s seat instead of playing co-pilot. Tae didn’t mind as the stress of his sleep deprived mind settled in the form of a pounding headache.

“Is it really worth risking our asses like this for the old man?” Tae huffed as he was regaining feeling back in his body and had managed to pick himself up to drape comfortably across the backseat on his tummy.

James remained quiet as he continued to stare hard at the road ahead, pretending to ignore the question.

“James, I know you’re listening.” Tae said quietly, popping himself up on his elbows slowly.

“Look, man, I don’t know. I just know if I work the jobs with you, I earn cash for being your driver and I know you got beef with the Old Man. Everyone has known it since day one but no one wants to talk about it because they’re either too scared of you or scared of making it sound like they sound against the Old Man.” James sounded exasperated as he spoke.

“The old bastard expects too much of us when it comes to these jobs. We’ve busted our asses from the moment we’ve joined.” Tae snipped.

“Maybe you, Tae, but I’ve just been following you ever since. I knew I was going to get my ass beat when I got pulled into the Ji Family. I do this so I can stay in the Den and stay off drugs. It would be too easy to get back into Undercity’s circles if I go back out there.”

“Yeah. I know. I’d beat your ass the day you come back to my Den high on that crap – we don’t do what we deal.”

“For someone as messed up as you, you’d expect worse habits from you, you know? Yet your worst habit is your drinking habit.” James snickered softly.

“I’d don’t indulge crackheads. They’re a fucking mess to handle – whether they’re high or on a come down and I don’t have the patience for that shit.” Tae mused. He knew what it was like to live with a druggie. His father had torn their family apart because of it, dragged his mother down into it at the end of it all and overdosed when they couldn’t pay their supplier.

It pissed Tae off so he continued to bitch, “Whatever. Just make sure you let the asshole know his work is done and that he can’t bother me for the week without having someone having a bullet in them from me.”

“Man, I don’t want to do it.” James whined, already agonised over the idea of going back to the club.

“Then fucking find someone to deliver the message. Get Denzel to do it.” Tae scoffed.

“He’ll want to see you, Tae. You know that. You’ve been avoiding the club.” James flicked his eyes up to the overhead rear view mirror to make eye contact with Tae. Tae scowled before his cold hard eyes flicked to the car window in front of him, he had been staring at how the sky was soon disturbed by the mid-rise buildings of the Undercity outskirts.

“I work for his gang. I’m not required to be at club at all times. I just don’t go when I don’t feel like it.” Tae huffed as he rolled on the spot to turn onto his back.

“Work for it? Shit, I didn’t think you still saw it like that. You practically own it, Tae. There isn’t a soul in Ji Household that doesn’t know your name. Besides no one is asking you to party if you show your face.” James snorted.

“I don’t play leader to those fuckers – I work for my own benefit. They don’t answer to me. If I do show my face, they want to drink on my money, cheap ass pissheads.” Tae hissed – he knew the only way to survive in the Undercity was to work for a Mafia Family. It wasn’t his original plan but it happened that way and since he had resigned his fate to forever being stuck in the Undercity Mafia, he might as well be the best at what he did within the ranks.

“True but if the Old Man ever died, they would.” James said off handed.

“The Old Man isn’t going to die soon. Bastards like him are like cockroaches – they live even when you try and kill them.” Tae spat but it only gained more laughter from James.

But little did James know that he made Tae think, despite the roll of his eyes.

If only the Old Man dropped dead…

The car started and whined loudly.

Tae dropped his head back into the leather seat and cried out, “Watch your fucking self, James. My baby girl is hurt!”

The other groaned, knowing it was going to be a long ride back with Tae pissing and moaning about his car.

But James didn’t realise that Tae was already planning other business.

He had plans that he needed to make a reality.

The first thing he needed to be done was that he had to go back to the club and his other and more pressing plan that included a particular brunette he met a few weeks ago.

He had unfinished business with her.