The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) (21 page)

“Must be nice,” she remarked, her tone slightly resentful.

His brows drew together. “What?”

“To have so many friends while growing up.”

A curious glint crept into his eyes. He leaned in closer, his gaze perceiving her in a new light. “Did you not travel often during your training?”

Soo Jin lapsed into silence and averted her attention back to the window. Once a bitter smile adorned her lips, she began to unfold her story.

“Ju Won did not believe that it was important for me to be well-traveled nor did he believe it was important for me to have friends. My only companions were Jae Won and Kang Min and some of my trusted trainees. I did not travel the world. He felt that it was better for me to not be tempted by the weaknesses of the rest of the world. He believed the only things I should know were the throne, the coffin, and my training.” She laughed to herself. “I resented him for that until I was formally introduced into the Underworld. I realize now that he did not keep me away from the world to better my training; no, he kept me away because he wanted the rest of the world to revere me. I was not to be anyone’s friend or have other mentors. I was to be just that—a God amongst Royals.”

Her smile remained as she kept her eyes on the tiny speckles of light outside her window. Feeling like she was in a protective bubble that the rest of the world could not penetrate, she decided to reveal something that she had never disclosed to anyone.

“This is where I will reign next.”

Compelled by her words, Tae Hyun’s eyes followed her line of vision and glanced at the speckles of light outside. “Next?”

“When Ju Won brought forth the possibility of me becoming the Lord of the Underworld, I did not envision simply ruling over Korea,” she explained, staring down at the world beneath her like a true God. “I wanted to be more than that; I wanted to have more power than that. What fun is it to simply rule over one country when I could have the rest of the world to preside over?”

“You want to become the Lord of all the Underworlds,” he summed up, looking at her with newfound amazement.

“A true God does not stop in just one country.”

Despite the fact that he was fascinated with her plans, Tae Hyun did not hesitate to play the devil’s advocate. “Korea loves you, but Japan loves your brother. You may be the crown jewel of our world, but the Underworld in Japan will always favor your brother over you.”

Albeit his argument was legitimate, Soo Jin was prepared with her response.

“Our world loves you, yet they are still willing to pit me against you. You are their favored King, the one they truly want to rule over their world. And despite their favoritism for you, they still sacrifice you to me.” She turned to him. “Do you know why that is?”

He remained quiet, and she enlightened him.

“Because they favor power more than they favor you. They will never allow their love for you to supersede what our society has been built upon. We are plagued with the never-ending pursuit of power, and the Underworld is only as powerful as the Lord who reigns over it.” Her face split into a wide, merciless grin. “My defeat over you will set the precedence for the rest of my reign. Once I kill you, I will go after Ji Hoon, and then I will kill my brother. I will kill anyone who stands in my way because this is not a democracy—this is a dictatorship. Once I stand alone as the sole Lord in our Underworld, then I will expand my reach.”

He smiled, nodding at her answer. After a pregnant pause, he revealed, “That was my long-term goal as well.”

Soo Jin nodded, unsurprised. The reason she told him was because she knew, at one point or another, he, too, had grand plans like this. This was how the Royal bloodlines of the Underworld were brought up to view the world. They were not raised to simply reside in one country; they were born to do everything in their power to preside over as much of the world as they can.

“What changed?” she inquired instinctively.

“I found something better.”

“What could be better than being an untouchable God?”

“Being a snob.”

She shot him a chiding glance when his answer scorched her like boiling water. He promised her that he would not use his charms—or anything of that nature—to upset her. As subtle as it was, using the term “snob” constituted as upsetting her.

Tae Hyun smirked at her reproaching stare and perceptively steered the subject on to a more serious note. 

“Were you working with my brother?”

She eyed him critically. What the hell kind of question was that? “Excuse me?”

“I’ve been thinking about it more and more. I don’t understand how it was possible that he hid you. Based on your self-recording, it was obvious that you despised him. Unless something happened after you finished your video recording, I can’t see you two working together.”

“We didn’t,” she replied tightly, her eyes blinking in rage. She hated Ho Young. She would never work with him in a million years.

“Why do you think my brother hid you?”

Soo Jin pondered the question and expelled a weary breath.

“I don’t know,” she admitted honestly. “I was openly hostile towards him. Every time I saw him, I wanted to provoke him to fight me so that I could have an excuse to kill him. It baffles my mind to know that he was the one who hid me in Taecin.” She shifted slightly, casting a furtive glance to Tae Hyun when an unsettling question popped in her mind. “How long do you think they were working together?”

“You mean our brothers and Ji Hoon?”

Soo Jin nodded.

“It could not have taken place when my father was killed,” he answered with certainty.

“You don’t think Ho Young had a hand in your father’s death?”

Tae Hyun shook his head. “My brother was a sick person, but out of everyone, he loved our father the most. I don’t think he could’ve had a hand in helping to orchestrate our father’s death.” He continued to gaze out the window. “I think Young Jae was the mastermind behind the alliance. He was the only common link between my brother and Ji Hoon.”

After a lapse of silence, he faced her to hear her perspective.

“What do you think happened?”

Soo Jin swallowed tightly, formulating her own assumptions. “I think you are right when you say that my brother was the common link between them. I believe that he befriended them—or at least had some working relationship with them—at some point during their training. As much as I despise my brother, even I have to admit that there’s something about him that evokes trust from people. I think he used me as one of the bribes for Ji Hoon to work with him. At that point, I was not giving Ji Hoon the time of day and I’m sure, in addition to promising him sole power over the Korean Underworld, he promised his approval for me to be with Ji Hoon as well.”

She blankly stared out the window again.

“I don’t know how he managed to convince your brother to work with Ji Hoon though. If what you said is true, then Ho Young would’ve hated Ji Hoon with a passion. It did not make sense for him to work with Ji Hoon—or my brother for that matter. Among the three, Ho Young was the one with the most power. The fact that you were well on your way to presiding over the 1
st
layer only meant that even without Young Jae or Ji Hoon’s help, he would have still been considered the most powerful King. Having said this, it only means that there is something else that we’re missing in this equation—a power that Young Jae held over Ho Young in order to convince him to be part of this conspiracy.”

Tae Hyun smirked when the perpetual city lights started to morph into majestic skyscrapers. They have finally reached their destination.

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Tae Hyun faced her again. This time, he wore a forewarning look on his face. “I want you to know that when we’re in Japan, if you try to kill Young Jae or Ji Hoon, I will stop you.”

Soo Jin snapped back her head to Tae Hyun’s direction, shocked with his declaration. She did not expect the conversation to veer into this direction. Although she found amusement with his statement, she would not tolerate anyone addressing her in such a brazen manner. 

“You will have your hands full if you try to stop me.” She smirked, laughing to herself. “And who says I’m going after them?”

“I know you.”

She laughed out loud again. What a foolish statement for this guy to make. He may have known her human counterpart well, but he knew nothing about her.

“You know nothing about me.”

“I know you,” he emphasized again. His voice was sterner, more confident. “I was you when Ji Hoon assassinated my father. Just like you, the hatred I had for him was unrivaled by any other. It took me years to rein in my emotions; it took me years to realize that there’s a time and place for everything. In this world, we cannot exact revenge based upon whims; we have to do it strategically. We have to get revenge during a war, not a battle.”

When he saw the slight doubt on her face, he went on knowingly.

“I’ve heard about you from my brother, Soo Jin. Although he never went into details, he would always tell me of your hatred for him, your hotheadedness when it came to wanting to provoke a fight with him so that you could kill him. You finding out that Young Jae was behind your father’s death may have occurred a little over three years ago, but your amnesia has only recently been cured. Your anger is still fresh—it is still raw. Not to mention, all of this is only exacerbated by the knowledge of Anna and Ji Hoon’s betrayal. I know that when we meet them, you will go after all of them—and I can’t have that. We’re walking onto Young Jae’s land—his Kingdom. We are simply there for answers. We cannot be the ones to break the ceasefire.”

Soo Jin nodded, thoroughly impressed. He was right on the dot with everything he said. In place of vocalizing her impressiveness with him, she asked, “Do you really think Young Jae will keep his word and grant us safe passage in Japan?”

“I do not trust Young Jae as far as I can throw him. Having said that, I trust his rationalization as a King. He knows there is a time and place for everything. Although I cannot say that he will make sure we come out unscathed from Japan, I can say that he will not kill us. He likes glory too much to kill us in such an underhanded fashion. No. If he tries to kill us, then it will only be when the entire Underworld plays witness to it.”

Soo Jin sighed, leisurely leaning back into the comfort of her seat. “You are right when you say that Young Jae will not break his word. As a King, he knows that killing us in front of the Underworld will serve him better. That being said, you forget that Young Jae is not just a King; he is a husband now. You forget that he tried to kill me when I was Yoori—he tried to kill me in a secluded restaurant with no witnesses. Do you know why he did this?”

Tae Hyun remained quiet, allowing her to enlighten him.

“Because he wants to protect his wife,” she elucidated. “Glory, as enticing as it is to him, is nothing compared to his wife. He knows how I am. He knows how ruthless I can be, how single-minded I can become when I want someone dead.” She gave a sadistic smile. “And he should be afraid because I
will
kill Anna. I will make sure they are in the same room, and when he is watching, I will gut her in front of him.”

She laughed in amusement, her callous laughter rolling over the walls of the private jet.

“But have no fear, King of Serpents. I am not going into this meeting with the intention of killing any of them. On the contrary, now that I’ve thought it over, I quite like the idea of them bearing witness to my crowning as Lord of the Underworld before I end their lives.” She gazed at him with feigned reassurance. “The rest of these parasites will know my wrath when the time comes. Trust me when I say that I will bring judgment upon them soon enough, but it will only come after death has knocked on your door. At the moment, my war is with you. Once that’s over, I will exact my revenge as I see fit.”

Tae Hyun nodded pleasantly, utterly unfazed by her lethal words. “I suppose I am living on borrowed time, aren’t I?”

“I would say so,” Soo Jin acknowledged.

Tae Hyun chuckled as the plane landed. Despite how morbid the conversation had become, he seemed to be in a better mood. “Then it’s only right that I live to the fullest before the end comes.”

“Why are you smiling like that?”

He gazed at her with a seductive gleam in his eyes. It was a look that told her of his sensual intentions with her, and it was a look that promised unrivaled pleasure. It was so tantalizing that she could feel her entire body scorch up from his titillating stare alone.

Soo Jin breathed in uneasily, quickly realizing that the harmless King, who promised to not seduce her during their plane ride, was gone. The sinful, utterly enticing predator was back, and he was ready to feast on her.

“Plane ride’s over, Soo Jin,” he crooned, his voice hot and filled with carnality. “It’s time for me to have some fun with you now.”

“You lost your soul in this world . . .”

09: Game of Preys

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Soo Jin uttered, staring dumbfounded at the travesty before her.

Tae Hyun feigned coyness and closed the door behind them. He followed her gaze around the room. “You don’t like the room?”

Soo Jin took one more look at the massive penthouse suite before turning back to him in disbelief. “You put me in the same room as you?” she asked through clenched teeth.

“It’s the very best hotel suite,” he assured, as if that was her biggest concern.

She narrowed a hard look at him. She was not amused with his attempt at evasion. “You are a King in the Underworld,” she enunciated slowly, forebodingly. “You can’t afford to reserve two rooms for us?”

His lips edged up in a pleasant smile. “This is my favorite hotel in Japan. There’s only one room available here.”

“I don’t believe you,” she stated without missing a beat. She pointed an accusing finger at him. “You bought out the rest of the available rooms to make sure I wouldn’t be able to get my own room, didn’t you?”

His pleasant smile remained. As opposed to outright lying, he merely said, “I thought it’d be more fun for us to room together.”

“You are sorely mistaken.”

He expelled a dramatic sigh. With a cool expression on his face, he sauntered over to her with a hotel card key in hand. “We are only preys when we behave like one.” He extended the card key to her. His cocky eyes challenged her to take the card. “If you would like to run off to another room, then I will not stop you.”

And cement herself as a fearful kitten? She could not have that. Forced to employ every ounce of control at her disposal, she disregarded the card key and begrudgingly picked up her luggage. Soo Jin purposely slammed her shoulder into his as she swept across the hotel suite. She strolled past the living room area and went straight into the bedroom.

“I get the bed,” she announced, throwing her luggage on the white, king-sized bed.

Tae Hyun stood at the doorway and watched her in approval. He looked ecstatic with her acceptance of their rooming situation. “I knew you would see it my way.”

Soo Jin would not allow him to get the best of her. He wasn’t the only one who could play games.

“You will sleep on the right side of the bed,” she told him, commencing her own game.

He arched a questioning brow. He eased away from the door and journeyed to his side of the bed. Curiosity marked his features. “I get to share the bed with you?”

“Let’s be honest,” Soo Jin began shrewdly, unzipping her luggage. “You paid for the suite and made sure there would only be one bed. I’m sure this is what you intended.”

“I intended for a lot of things to happen in this room,” he whispered seductively. “I just didn’t think you’d be this agreeable.”

Soo Jin smirked, slipping off her jacket to reveal a black camisole that showed off her toned shoulders.

“You underestimated me,” she remarked, leaning forward to unzip her second bag, deliberately giving Tae Hyun a view of her cleavage. “I’m determined to ensure that you learn your most important lesson tonight.”

Tae Hyun inhaled deeply, appreciating the view before him. It seemed to take everything he had to avert his focus from her attractive figure. He locked eyes with hers. “What will I learn?”

She reached in and grabbed a pocketknife from her luggage. With the knife in hand, she casually strode over to him.

Fear did not possess Tae Hyun when she reached him. On the contrary, he appeared more excited with her proximity.

Eliciting a soft sigh, Soo Jin playfully moved the tip of the knife up and down his chest. “You will learn that whatever games you plan on playing during this trip, I will be ten times better than you. If you want to play this courting game, then I will play with you.” She unbuttoned his shirt with the knife. She felt his breath hitch as her voice became lower, more seductive. “I will make you drool, I will make your heart race, and I will make you want me even more. Most of all, I will make you hate your life because I will never let you have me in the way that you want me. You will be miserable knowing that I will forever be out of your grasp.” She presented him with a vicious smile that would cause others to quake in terror. “You will learn the most cardinal lesson on this trip, King of Serpents.”

“And what lesson is that?”

“Don’t fuck with your Queen.”

He chuckled lightly before relieving himself of his shirt. After tossing it to the ground, he reached out and pulled her closer to his naked chest.

“That sounds like a fun game,” he murmured favorably, looking turned on rather than fearful. “I will enjoy it very much when I win.”

Soo Jin smiled before drawing blood by nicking him on the chest with the knife. When he did not even bat an eye at the pain, she teasingly said, “Here’s to a fun trip then.”

With that, she tossed the knife aside, walked past him, and proceeded straight onto the balcony. Now that the game had been set, Soo Jin felt the tension melt from her body. She no longer felt constricted; she felt free to interact with him without boundaries. There was no harm because on this trip, she was simply playing a part—a game. What happened in Japan would stay in Japan as far as she was concerned.

Her eyes traveled over the panoramic view. She took in a deep breath, luxuriating in the wind and the sight of the gorgeous city in all its glory. They were on one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo, and the view it offered was like something out of the movies. The twinkling lights of the city soothed her soul, relaxing her more than she had felt since she regained her memories.

Adding to this already beautiful landscape, the favored King himself decided to grace this scenery with his presence.

He came to a slow pause beside her. “Should we consider this our first date?”

She laughed, folding her arms across her chest. The evening wind tumbled around them, roaring with such ferocity that she could scarcely hear the sounds of the world below. She liked that she could not hear anything else. It made her feel like they were in their own secret world.

Letting her guard down slightly, she decided to play this courting game with him.

“I’ve never been on a date.”

His visage illumed with delight. He was thrilled with her answer.

“Then it’s my honor to be the first,” he said affectionately, jumpstarting the conversation. “Apart from Ji Hoon, have you had other boyfriends?”

Soo Jin smirked to herself. Of course that would be his first question on their “date”.

She humored him by not only answering, but also giving him a tidbit to lose sleep over. “Ji Hoon was the first and only official one. Having said that, I did date quite a few Royals for fun.”

“The only fun Royals are in the 1
st
layer,” Tae Hyun supplied blithely. His tone indicated that he did not believe she truly dated other Royals for fun. “I know all the heirs in the 1
st
layer. If you dated any of them, I would’ve known.”

“You have close connections in our Underworld, but not other Underworlds.”

His jaw went rigid. He regarded her with surprise in his eyes. “You dated heirs from foreign Underworlds?”

“Yes,” she confirmed sweetly, secretly enjoying this part of the conversation. It could not hurt to make him jealous. “Most are actually from Japan. Since we’re here, I might stop by to say hi.”

He slanted his head at her. His amused eyes searched her knowingly. “Are you trying to make me jealous?”

“It’s not my problem if you are.”

He laughed to himself, resting against the railing in pleasure. His eyes wandered over the glowing city before them. “Maybe I should stop by to revisit some of the 1
st
layer Princesses here as well.” When she shot him a glare that was cold enough to freeze hell, he grinned charismatically. “Are you jealous?”

“Should I be?”

He shook his head. “I only want you.” He leaned close to her. His warm breath tickled her earlobe, sending chills down her body. “And I know you only want me.”

Soo Jin scoffed in disbelief. She would normally back away to keep some distance between them. However, for tonight, she did not move. This was a game, and she could not lose.

“Your arrogance is becoming increasingly offensive,” she said tightly.

He did not allow her hardened tone to dissuade his flirtatious efforts. “Then you will be in for a fun date because this is just the beginning.”

“Why did you downplay who you were when you first met Yoori?” Soo Jin suddenly asked, eager to decode something she had been curious about for a while.

“I told her exactly who I was when we met.”

“You told her, but you did not show her.” She eyed him questioningly, genuinely interested in his motives. “What was with the whole song and dance with fighting Jae Won in the alley? Or meeting Ji Hoon in a warehouse to fight him? You were raised to be better than that. Why did you behave like a stereotypical gang leader when you are a hundred times better than that?”

The muscles on his bare back flexed as he took a second to lean further on the railing to stare at the moving cars below. Despite how windy it was, there was not a single goose bump on his strong body. In that suspended moment, she was tempted to wrap her arms around him and embrace him from behind. He looked so warm, so inviting that she wanted nothing more than to drown in his sinful heat. Thankfully for her, after a thoughtful pause, he decided to enlighten her and thereby quench her temptations.

“I did not want to scare her,” he shared quietly, his voice barely discernible over the roaring wind. He kept his eyes on the cars below. “She was already scared shitless when she found out that she had been blackmailed to become the King of Serpents’ personal assistant. I did not want her to be a witness to my killings. She did not have to see that I could rip necks apart with my bare hands.” His broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Back then, I reasoned that I may have dragged her into the Underworld, but that did not mean I had to let her see everything about our society.”

“You started your relationship as any Underworld King would,” Soo Jin provided understandably. The understanding in her voice metamorphosed into disappointment. “You seemed to have it all figured out. How did you end up falling so far from your throne?”

He faced her with a soft smile. “You pity me, don’t you?”

“Very much so.”

“Don’t.” His smile remained when he pushed himself away from the railing and approached her. “You forget that the throne is mine to lose. If I truly want to fight you for it, then you will not beat me.”

“You
should
fight me for it,” she coaxed, her eyes imploring him to see reason. How could he not see that they were born to battle one another? How could he not see what a momentous fight that would be?

“I’d rather fight you for something else,” he said instead. Unable to stop himself, he reached out and grazed a hand over her cheek. Adulation teemed in the gaze he held on her. “Just say the words and I will have our private plane come. We could go somewhere where no one knows our names. I could take you far away from the Underworld.”

Soo Jin could not help but laugh at the absurdity of his proposal.

“I am not a Princess—I am a Queen. I was born to rule, not to run away.”

“Yet you run from me,” he countered gently, withdrawing his hand from her face. He placed it back on the railing. “You stand here pretending to be unaffected when I can feel your heart racing. What are you afraid of?”

“My demise,” Soo Jin admitted simply, honestly. She no longer cared about playing a game. All she wanted to do was instill reason in him. “I’ve worked my entire life to reach this very moment. The fact that a single person could undo all my sacrifices does not bode well with me.” A bitter fire ignited in her eyes. “Do you know why I harbor such hostility for you?”

He leaned his back against the railing. Almost too diplomatically, he said, “Please enlighten me.”

“Since my inception into the Underworld, I’ve had to prove myself. I’ve had to fight off men who wanted to rape me, I’ve had to sleep with amputated body parts, I’ve had to lay in a pool of my own blood, and I’ve had to endure Ju Won and his sadistic training. I spent the majority of my childhood in Ju Won’s mansion, praying that one day, I would complete my training and be free of my living hell.” Her eyes elevated with sternness. “Your upbringing may have been difficult, but it was nothing compared to mine. You were loved the second you stepped foot into the 1
st
layer. Even when you murdered your own brother—an offense that other Royals would get beheaded for—this world did not deem to punish you. If anything, it rallied together to protect you.” The animosity amplified in her voice. “I find you to be attractive, King of Serpents, but do not mistake that for love. You may have gotten a girl to fall in love with you, but not a Queen—not someone like me.”

“Sounds like you would’ve gotten along quite well with my past self.” He folded his arms across his chest, his eyes never leaving hers. “I was just like you. I did not have plans to stop with Korea. The beauty of my upbringing was that I traveled the world to receive my training. I’ve met people from all walks of life, and you are right, they love me. Regardless of the difficulty of my training, even I have to admit that I had it easier than many other Royals. Whatever I wanted, I’ve gotten. This is what I’ve grown accustomed to; this is what my world has grown accustomed to. Everyone has grown accustomed to expecting the best from me. They’ve come to expect nothing but legendary things from me.”