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It was nightfall when they had initiated their plan.ย
The group had split earlier on, the marines trailing after their senior for a one on one with the formidable knifer while Nari and Hyeon-ju had both accompanied Du-yeong to Mr Han’s store where they both received new bikes.
They were all well aware of the mechanics. Nari had happily indulged in Du-yeong’s love for the vehicle when he offered to teach her, hence her ability to steely manoeuvre it without falling. It was liberating once she got it down, the wind in her hair, her nose frozen from the air as cars, trees and buildings alike would blur and it would just be her with the whizzing in her ears.
She loved taking his bike for an occasional spin and had she one of her own, chances of Nari ever retuning back to the apartment were slim to none. She was free to go wherever she pleased, it was her escape. But not owning one seemed to be here karma.
But now she found herself in an underground parking complex, Du-yeong at her side as they hid behind a little nook near the entrance to witness the ins and outs of every visitor, hoping to see their one specific target- Kim Jun-min. Nari could feel her blood boil at his name.
Hyeon-ju was on lookout in the event anything went wrong. She was their first point of contact; their eyes and ears and she was crucial for the plan to succeed. It had to; she wasn’t so sure what she would do if they failed tonight.
Nari glanced down at her phone when it pinged. She removed her helmet, placing it on her lap as she straddled her sleek black and red Yamaha.
Pretty boy Woo
Be careful
It read. Nari felt her lips tug into a smile, her head bowed in fear someone would see the flustered tint of her ears. She replied with the same sentiment. The boys had to be a lot more careful than they did, because where they had fast motorcycles as their getaway, the boys merely had their fists and legs to get them to safety. Nari sent a silent prayer that they walk out unscathed.
“What has you smiling like that?”
Nari glanced up to Du-yeong who was leaned against the wall, occasionally peaking from his spot to the rather silent entrance. He looked at her sceptically, eyeing the phone in hand with a tilt of his curious head.
“Nothing” she said stiffly. “Just a message”
“From someone special” he clarified, and Nari felt the familiar rush of blood to her ears.
“You could say” she demurred. “But it’s complicated” she said, before pocketing her phone in her jacket and zipping it up.
“Doesn’t look complicated if they’re making you smile like that” he said, something weird in his tone like an overprotective father catching their daughter doing something she wasn’t supposed to. His next words came out almost accusatory when he said, “Is it a boy?”
“Uncle Lee” Nari groaned as she flushed, unable to meet his eyes that lit up in triumph before dropping to a protective glower.
“Who is it? Do I know him?” he asked, whispering low but loud enough for Nari to want to shrink into herself.
“Hyeon-ju anything?” Nari said into her earpiece, to try alleviate herself from Du-yeong’s harsh stare and away from his prying accusations.
“Nope” came her reply and Nari grumbled a curse.
“So?” Du-yeong insisted as she placed her palm on her cheek, leaning on her bike with a sigh.
“I think I really like him” Nari admitted softly and Du-yeong was surprised to hear her confession.
He and Nari had a very close relationship. She would tell him everything, from her day, to her obsessions but she never spilled secrets and much less boy talk. That was something he left for his wife.
He was usually uncomfortable at the prospect of his ward like daughter even thinking about something as trivial as boys, but it was to be expected, she was an adult, and she was undoubtly pretty that he had chased off one to many boys to last him a lifetime. This was probably the first time she had openly discussed something of this topic with him, he didn’t know how to react. So, he stood there, gaping like a fish with his mouth trying to formulate words that would not leave his lips.
“I really really like him, but I don’t know what to do. I think he likes me too but yeah, I just” Nari sighed, thumping her head onto her bike ” It’s complicated”
“Have you spoke to Mi-kyung about this. I mean I-” he winced. He was feeling widely uncomfortable at the thought of her liking any boy for the matter.
“No, it’s a recent revelation” Nari muttered before glancing up at him and seeing his flustered expression, she chuckled lightly. ” I don’t expect anything to happen really and I’m sure this is the last thing you want to talk about considering we’re waiting to literally kill a man” she said in jest before realising the true extent of their operation.
They were about to kill a man.
While to Du-yeong it was nothing, he had done this multiple times before as he was one of the best knifers in the lot, this was just another day. But to Nari, it was unthinkable. Sure, in her moments with Smile Capital she wanted nothing more than to rip them to shreds by her hands, to watch every inch of suffering she could inflict on them would be nothing to the grief they had caused her, her family and many many lives. But she didn’t expect to actually do it, and so soon, at that, alongside someone she thought would never harm another soul.
“I didn’t think we’d be here” Nari said, brushing the other topic of discussion away but Du-yeong would bring it up with her later. He didn’t like how bothered she looked about the situation and for it to be from a boy no less, he couldn’t think of anything worse. ” Being on one of your operations with you” she told him and Du-yeong sighed, his heart heavy.
“I never wanted you to” he confessed. ” Yang-jung and I tried really hard to live an honest life after our boys died. And then when I married my wife, when you came into the picture and now us having a baby on the way, I wanted to get away from this life as far as possible. Yang-jung, as much as leaving the past behind him is more difficult, he is sick of it too. We lost a lot being bloodhounds, we never wanted you kids to experience it too”
“But here we are” Nari muttered.
”But here we are” he echoed, glancing at her with a soft smile.
“Uh guys, a car is coming in” Hyeon-ju’s voice filtered through their ears.
Bright lights illuminated the desolate lot, tires squealing as a black car pulled into the complex. Nari put on her helmet as Du-yeong leaned his body over the wall to catch a glimpse of the driver.
“Jun-min?” Nari whispered but the man shook his head in denial. “It’s a goon”
“What do we do?” Hyeon-ju asked nervously. They hadn’t planned for back up.
“Nothing, the plan remains” Du-yeong ordered.
“Be ready to fight if you have to ” he told Nari who nodded, unleashing a baton Hyeon-ju had given her. It wouldn’t kill but it would do enough damage for Du-yeong to get the final blow.
The sound of tired and another pair of headlights lit the lot and Hyeon-ju’s confirmation of Jun-min’s presence reached her ears sooner than later.
It was time.
Supressing her sudden bundle of nerves, she lowered her visor as Du-yeong did the same, hopping on his cobalt blue bike, he started the engine and revved, the sound carried with ambience throughout the parking lot.
Kim Jun-min, clean and crisp in his suit, stood unsuspecting in the middle of the lot when the roar of two engines startled him. He turned just in time for Du-yeong to unsheathe his knife and press down on the throttle. The man zipped past and in one quick, fluid motion, you wouldn’t have seen it if you blinked- Kim Jun-min was gasping on the floor, his hands coated in blood with a sharp, clean cut across his throat. Du-yeong was already halfway up the ramp leaving him bloody and gasping for breath.
Men rushed to Jun-min’s side before they were startled at another engine revving. They cursed, trying to unsheathe their weapons but Nari was quicker. Her bike zoomed and, in a flash, her baton was raised, and it crashed into their skulls with sickening cracks.
Nari swerved her bike to a stop as blinding lights suddenly flashed into view. She winced, her arm lifting to shield her eyes before a loud grunt of pain caught her attention.
Du-yeong was on the floor, his bike not too far away from him while a car was at a standstill, a huge crater in its bonnet. He had been hit by a car. Nari cursed as she hopped off the bike, rushing towards him as men had circled his squirming frame, kicking, puncing and brutally assaulting him.
“Don’t touch him you senseless bastards!” Nari said loudly as she swung the baton into one of the closest men. He tumbled to the ground in a heap. Grateful for the distraction, Du-yeong returned her favour with equal ferocity. The two worked in tandem, dropping the men like flies before the only sound that was heard were moans of pain.
“Thanks kid” Du-yeong breathed out, wincing at his split lip.
”Are you okay?” Nari asked concerned but he was too dumbstruck at her having saved him that all he could do was grin rather proudly.
”I am, thanks to you” he beamed, and Nari smiled brightly at the praise. ” Let’s get out of here” he told her and Nari nodded. Du-yeong lifted his bike with a grunt, Nari returning back to hers before they gave Hyeon-ju the signal and didn’t waste a second more.
She considered her first proper mission a success. Now all that was left was Im Jang-do and Smile Capital was practically done for.ย
This book is about to be more devastating than Woo-jin’s one๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
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