The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) (46 page)

“What?” asked Tae Hyun, giving her the opportunity to ease her congested mind.

“I know that he still loves me,” she breathed out painfully, “that he cares for me. But the thing about love is that it doesn’t venture far in this world. We can never go back to the way we used to be. This world has corrupted us to the point of no return. I will never forgive what he did to our father. In the same token, he will never forgive the sole fact that I killed his wife and his unborn child. We may have ties by blood, but our ties by heart have been severed beyond repair.” She exhaled sharply, taking her eyes off Tae Hyun for a fleeting second. In that moment, another daunting reflection came to her mind. “I can’t help but think that he got what was coming to him. The most horrible thing that could happen to a human being happened to him, and I can’t help but think that he deserved it.”

The nerves in her body tightened. Fear inhabited her eyes while she applied the logic to her own life.

“Sometimes . . . I can’t help but think that it will only be a matter of time before I get what’s coming to me.” She swallowed agonizingly. “My brother will never forgive me for what I took from him. I
know
him—I grew up with him. If you’re true to him, then he’ll protect you until the end. But if you cross him, he would go to any lengths to destroy you.” Yoori could feel dread surge through her like a vicious fire. The idea of having someone as vengeful as her brother coming after her terrified her. “He will search all ends of the earth to find me. He will make me pay for everything I took from him.”

A cool breeze swept through the boat again. Though it was strong enough to ruffle her hair, it wasn’t strong enough to distract Yoori from her thoughts. Staring deeply into Tae Hyun’s eyes, she asked him something she had wanted to ask him since they reunited at the gazebo.

“You’re really not afraid of being with me? Of what’s to come?”

“Young Jae does not evoke any fear from me, neither does the Underworld,” Tae Hyun replied reassuringly, tucking the bangs that had blown astray back behind Yoori’s ear. His calm voice pulsed with steel-like confidence. He truly wasn’t afraid of anyone. “The only thing I’m afraid of is losing you. I don’t ever want to lose you again.”

Yoori blinked in concurrence. She shared the same sentiments about him. She did not fear what Young Jae or the Underworld might do to her. She only feared what they would do to Tae Hyun, and in turn, what
that
would do to her.

Another sequence of thoughts then appeared in her mind, veering her off course and taking their topic of conversation onto another road.

“They don’t look alike though,” she launched quizzically. “Ho Young and Young Jae . . . they do not resemble one another. If I had seen a resemblance, then I might’ve had an idea about the possible relation. However, they do not resemble each other
at all
. I know they’re not identical twins, but the sole fact that they’re fraternal twins must mean that they would look alike in
some way
, right?”

“If you were your father and you hid a son in an enemy family, wouldn’t you go to lengths to change everything about the son being raised by you?” Tae Hyun reasoned, enlightening Yoori with his logic. She could see in Tae Hyun’s eyes that talking about a “brother” he had so much history with was a painful topic for him. For her, he kept his composure. Now that Ho Young was dead, he had already made his peace. “There must be a catalyst as to why Young Jae even found out that Ho Young was his fraternal twin. Was there ever a point during your childhood where you started to realize that your brother was looking . . . different?”

Yoori pondered his question. “Young Jae grew up and was trained in Japan. There were periods of time during his teens where he would train for years without coming back. When he did come home, I would notice subtle differences in his face. Because we were so young, I thought it was a natural change because he was growing up. Now that I think about it, I wouldn’t be surprised if my father started to give my brother subtle facial surgeries then and gradually worked on that as he grew up.”

She recalled during their childhood when a thirteen-year-old Young Jae told her that their father had “accidentally” broken Young Jae’s nose when he was training. She winced and shook her head at the thought.

“I think my father may have used training as an excuse to injure him. I think that may be how Young Jae was tipped off, but who knows what he did and how he truly found out.” She laughed self-mockingly. The soap opera story-like plotline that came out of her mouth was incredulous, even to her. “What a screwed up life we lead, right? I not only killed one of my brothers’ wife and unborn child, but I also helped kill the other brother I didn’t know existed. I spread information I knew would have you running back from America to kill him.”

She stared into his eyes when this damning thought slammed into her like a jet plane, reminding her of how
f
ucked up her family was. No matter how anyone cut it, it was all too apparent what terrible people her family members were. As the apple that came from that same tree, she couldn’t help but take responsibility for the horrors they inflicted upon Tae Hyun and his family.

“I’m sorry for everything that my family has done to your family,” she told him sorrowfully, thinking about how her father killed his actual brother to hide Ho Young within his family, how Ho Young raped his baby sister, and how Young Jae was taking part in helping to ruin everything else.

“It’s fine,” he assured her, his finger stroking over her cheek. “Yoori, it’s fine. Whatever happened, it’s all in the past. You’re not perfect, none of us are. We do the best we can, learn from the things we can learn from, and live the best way we can. The past is the past. All that matters is the here and now, and the person that you currently are.”

Yoori smiled gratefully before asking something that lightened the mood and brought silly smiles to their faces.

“So, what was the first thought in your mind when I came in that night during Ju Won’s birthday party? Don’t lie! I know it must not have been a pleasant one.”

“My first thought?” Tae Hyun laughed. He feigned a dramatic sigh as he recalled what was playing in his mind at that particular moment. “Well, I wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on that night. I just sat on the throne and brooded. I was lost in my own world until I heard the doors slam open and everyone gasping and stuff. My first thought was, ‘
What the hell? Why is everyone all shocked all of a sudden? Who the
f
uck just walked in?
’”

Yoori laughed at his ridiculous answer. She playfully pushed at his chest. “You did
not
think that!”

He nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

Although she rolled her eyes and accepted his answer, she wasn’t done with her curiosity pertaining to his first thoughts about her as An Soo Jin. “What did you think after that then?”

“That you were acting like a bigger brat than I remembered,” he answered bluntly, hiding back a smile. “Still the same spoiled brat, but the more arrogant version.”

“Do you miss the old Yoori?” she asked suddenly, her voice barely above a whisper. It was a dumb question to ask, but since she was being dumb and talking about all the random things on her mind, she might as well ask that as well. “The one who was more innocent? Less tainted?”

“Why would I miss someone who’s here in front of me?” he replied instead, his eyes warm while gazing into hers. “I told you once already that it doesn’t matter what name you go by or what memories you have. I fell in love with you. An Soo Jin, Choi Yoori, or whatever other name you want to go by—it doesn’t matter to me.” He grinned teasingly, pressing his forehead against hers with fondness. “You’re stuck with me no matter what, Princess.”

She blushed, her heart jumping at the feeling of them being so close. God help her that she would love a guy this much that just the feel of his warm body next to hers was enough to drive her hormones over the edge. Their chemistry was undeniable, but the thing that was still a question mark to her was his determination and his unwavering certainty about that chemistry.

“Why were you so sure that we belong together, Tae Hyun?” she prompted softly, running her fingers over his cheek. “I gave you such a hard time. How the hell did you put up with all of it? What was it about us that gave you so much strength to keep pursuing me?”

He went quiet for a fraction of a second. His warm brown eyes stared at her as if deliberating whether or not he should enlighten her with his answer. After another second, he parted his lips.

“Do you remember when we first met?”

“Yes,” Yoori responded tentatively, taken aback with the strange query. Why was he bringing this up? What did this have to do with anything? “At the diner.”

He shook his head, and that ignited every combative nerve in her body.

She stared at him blankly, unimpressed with his lack of skill in the memory department. She knew it felt like a lifetime ago since they had met, but it wasn’t like they had a boring meeting. How could he forget?

“You’re disagreeing with how we met?” She laughed incredulously. “Do you not remember me spilling coffee on you and you blackmailing me, buddy? Remember our ‘boss-and-assistant’ days?”

He chuckled, knowing that they were definitely not on the same page. He posed another question in an effort to get her on the same page as him. “How did you come up with the idea to mix the tea together?”

“I mixed it together for fun,” she answered carefully, wondering what Tae Hyun ate for dinner. The hottie was acting especially strange tonight. Why was he being so random?

“No,” he continued. “Where did you get the inspiration?”

Albeit she thought his method of answering her first question was strange, Yoori went along with it. If there was anything she knew about Tae Hyun, it was that he had a reason for doing everything.

“It just came to me,” she responded slowly. She pilfered through the distant memories of her childhood. At long last, she was able to latch onto a distinct memory: the image of her younger self rifling through the drawers in Ju Won’s kitchen. “I vaguely remember that Ju Won had all these teas in his kitchen. I had a day off from training, and I was really tired and sad one night. I wanted something nice and warm to drink, and I didn’t like how any of those teas tasted. So I just started mixing teas together.
It was like I was looking for a particular taste or something.
After going through multiple trials and errors, I finally had the heavenly tea in front of me.” She raised a questioning brow at him. “What does this have to do with our first meeting?”

A coy grin edged his lips. It was apparent that he had already decided he wasn’t going to make it easier for her by enlightening her further.

Tae Hyun may have been resigned to not tell her, but Yoori didn’t share in the same sentiment.

“Tell me,” she coaxed, playfully running her finger down his chest to seduce him into telling her.

When he feigned a hurt expression and pretended to turn away from her, she continued with her efforts to cajole him into telling her.

“Tell me.”

He kept his mouth shut.

“Tell me.”

He continued to remain silent.

“Tell me—”

“Maybe one of these days I will tell you,” he finally appeased.

“Tell me now,” she commanded, unwilling to let this go. She wanted to find out what the hell he was trying to insinuate to her.

He grinned at her insistence. As if he had it planned out all along, he casually pulled out a boomerang that was hidden in the corner of the boat and held it up in front of her.

“Throw it right, get it to come back to you, and I’ll
consider
telling you.”

Her face turned stoic. She stared at the boomerang like it was an object infected with the bubonic plague. “You’re serious?”

“Get it to come back to you,” he repeated. He gave her one of those encouraging, breathtaking smiles of his. It was his subtle way of convincing her to see things his way. Then, he hummed softly, his fingers finding a comfortable hold on her hip while he pushed himself closer to her. He made sure she felt the heat of his body while the boat rocked slightly at his movements. “Perhaps I’ll reward you with something nice if it actually comes back to you.”

Feeling her perverted ovaries cheer at the proximity of his hard body, she breathlessly asked, “What are you going to reward me with?”

His smile remained, yet he didn’t say anything. He merely held the boomerang up higher for her to take from him.

Curious as to what Tae Hyun might “reward” her with, Yoori reached for the boomerang and slowly stood up.

Placing his hand on her hip to make sure she was balanced while standing on the boat, Tae Hyun slowly sat upright and watched as she attempted to redeem herself.

At least if I fail, it’ll plunge into the water, and I’ll never have to deal with it again
, she consoled herself, running over the scenario of what would occur if she failed again.

She hesitantly looked down at Tae Hyun, who was smiling at her with encouraging eyes, and swallowed uncomfortably. After a preparatory breath, she whispered a prayer as she felt the weight of the boomerang anchor down her hand. Then, with the lowest self-confidence anyone could have, she threw the boomerang.