The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (14 page)

“Tell me,” Tae Hyun commanded, his interest heightening by the second.

Behind him, Yoori and the brothers listened with undivided attention.

“
The Hwang Family,” said Ace, clutching on to his wound. “Hwang Hee Jun’s family.”

Yoori didn’t understand who the family was
, but judging by the reactions of Tae Hyun and the brothers, this was an enormous revelation.

“
You’re all sure?” Tae Hyun asked slowly, his breath catching in his throat. He seemed
. . .
astonished.

The
y nodded as the one with the eye-patch said, “We wouldn’t tell you unless we knew with certainty that it was true.”

“Who is your source?” probed Tae Hyun.

“A lost Scorpion,” said the one with the Mohawk. “He was one of the few in the nightclub with An Soo Jin when the massacre took place.”

“How did you get this information from him?”

“We found him in Tokyo. He had strayed from An Young Jae to start his own gang in Japan. When we found him, we kidnapped him, held him for two weeks and eventually, he cracked.”

“He gave you this information under duress. How do you know it’s true?”

“We used the interrogation techniques that you taught us,” Sue answered carefully. “All he wanted to do was die; he would not have lied to us.” 

Yoori wondered
about the value and reliability of this information. She was still curious when Tae Hyun walked over to her, tucked his arms behind her legs, picked her up, and began to exit the club. When he bequeathed his next orders, she discovered just how reliable and valuable this information was.

“Fi
nd me Jin Ae, and you’ll all be part of the gang again.”

Her eyes expanded.

This revelation was big.

It was so big in fact that it merited an opportunity for redemption for the once exiled members of the Serpents gang.

Settling into the car as Tae Hyun slammed on the gas pedal and rushed her to his private physician,
only two questions coursed in Yoori’s mind:

W
ho were the Hwangs and who was Hwang Hee Jun?

“Are punished without mercy. . .”

06: The Siberian Tigers

“Jae Won, I know you have to go and be with Chae Young. Please feel free to leave. Kang Min, would you stay with her tonight? I’ve already doubled the security on her,” Tae Hyun ordered hours later.

They had arrived at Yoori’s apartment after Tae Hyun
took Yoori to his private doctor, got her the treatment she needed, and rushed her back home to rest.

Throughout
the duration of this, Yoori barely had any alone time with Tae Hyun. Albeit the curiosity about the Hwang family was killing her, the fact that he was behaving so indifferently toward her was killing her more. The guy wouldn’t even speak to her. After the torrent of concern he displayed at the club, it seemed that Tae Hyun had time to remind himself that he was indeed over her. His nonchalance and silence were eating her up alive.

“You’re not staying?” Yoori
finally blurted out, hoping that they would have some time to talk. Granted she hadn’t had much time to herself after meeting with Ji Hoon, Hae Jin, and then being attacked by assassins, she still wanted Tae Hyun’s company. Regardless of what a headache he was, she was eager to talk to him.

Tae Hyun narrowed
his eyes onto her. The words that came out of his mouth stung her. “Why should I when I know that you’d probably prefer to have Ji Hoon here instead of me?”

His harsh question nearly
caused her to capsize from her bed. Was that why he was ignoring her? Because he was replaying those words she said?

“I
—”

“I’m leaving now,”
Tae Hyun interrupted, cutting Yoori off. He lifted himself off the bed and was out of the room in a flash. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Even though she knew it was fu
cked up of her to tell him that she would choose Ji Hoon over him, Yoori still grew angry and defensive. Tae Hyun had no right to treat her like this. Yoori’s immature, feisty personality, which had been bottled up after what transpired three weeks ago, was set loose. Tae Hyun always had the ability, no matter how much he broke her heart, to make her forget about the bigger problems in her life and focus all her attention on him.

“
Hey, slow down! I’m injured!” she cried, pushing past the brothers.

She
cursed her life as she pathetically limped after him down the stairs. He just saved her life from a bunch of vengeful assassins; he could at least be nice so she could thank him for his kindness. “I’m not done talking to you!”

H
e wouldn’t slow down.

It got so bad that Tae Hyun was actually yards away from her once she stumbled out of her apartment complex.

“Ow, ow, ow!” she cried after she limped out of her apartment.

Yoori was momentarily paralyzed by the
chilliness of the night. She looked past the snow raining down on her, her eyes locked on a very fast moving Tae Hyun. She heaved a bitter breath. It would make sense that her overly dramatic life would end with her and Tae Hyun arguing again. Enraged that he was ignoring her screams for him to stop, Yoori bent down, scooped up a handful of snow, and threw a snowball at Tae Hyun’s retreating head.

“What the
fu—!”

The snowball
successfully collided with the back of his head, earning a curse of infuriation from the King of Serpents. He wheeled around in anger.

“
Jae Won, Kang Min,” Yoori ordered when the brothers ran out. “Leave!”

Alarm entered their massive eyes
when they saw that Tae Hyun was glowering at Yoori.

Yoori fumed inwardly.
She refused to allow Tae Hyun to keep one of them here to babysit her. She didn’t want to be with the brothers; she wanted to be with him.

“Uh
. . .
”

When Jae Won and Kang Min hesitated, Yoori imparted them with a death glare that had them scurrying off. They gave a bow of goodbye to Tae Hyun, wh
o was too busy glaring at Yoori to even acknowledge them. The engine of the car started soon after and they were off, disappearing into the snowy night.

“
What the fuck was that?” Tae Hyun snarled. His feet pressed deep into the snow when he approached her in fury.

“Don’t you
dare give me attitude about Ji Hoon when you were the one who ignored me on the street like I didn’t even exist!” Yoori confronted once he reached her.

They had never been the type of couple who walked on eggshells
around one another. Yoori would be damned if they did it now, especially when she was so pissed at him.

“
You
told me to stay out of your life,” he snapped back, his eyes just as enflamed as hers. He was infuriated. “You told me if you could do it all over again, you would choose Ji Hoon over me. Then I see you talking to him on the street like you were getting ready to go have dinner together? What do you expect me to do? Grovel at your feet and beg to be back in your life when it’s clear that you’re ready to move on?”

“I was angry at you!” she barked back, pained by the hurt
in his voice. She was also pained by her own frustration. “I didn’t mean what I said about Ji Hoon,” she finally admitted. “I lied so I could get away from you because I was furious with you!”

Tae Hyun’s
eyes enlarged at this admission. He appeared simultaneously relieved and pissed that she lied.

Yoori forged on.
“It wasn’t on purpose that I ran into Ji Hoon. I just came from the library for God’s sake! I wanted a burger and fries for dinner. I ran into him. I was only talking to him for a second before your ass strutted out like you owned the world and you walked past me like I didn’t even exist.”

Tae Hyun shook his head at her last statement. His expression mirror
ed the exasperation on her face. “You have no idea how much I wanted to pull you along with me. But I remembered your ‘order’ to stay out of your life. So don’t blame me for shit I can’t control, Yoori. If I had it my way, you would’ve never left in the cab that day. However, you made it clear that you no longer wanted me in your life and I’m trying my best to abide by those wishes.”

“Do you
really have any right to be angry, Tae Hyun?” Yoori asked critically.

Although Yoori knew
he had every right to be angry at the horrible lie she fed him, it still didn’t come close to the lies that he fed her.

“No, I don’t,
” he acknowledged. His eyes were stricken with storms of guilt. “I deserve this punishment after what I did to you.” His jaw clenched. “I may deserve this punishment, but that doesn’t mean I’m immune to it. This may come as a surprise to you, Yoori, but I do have emotions and they’re pretty responsive whenever it involves you.”

He sighed as the snow kissed their skin
and the wind billowed around them.

“Why
are we here like this, Yoori?” he finally asked in weariness. “I’m trying to stay out of your life, but you decide to chase me down when I try to leave? What are you doing?”

“Do you think t
his is easy for me, Tae Hyun?” she asked, pointing her white-bandaged fingers over her dust-covered trench coat. “You were my best friend. I trusted and adored you for months. All the shit I said to you may have been said out of anger, but that doesn’t mean I’ll have an easier time getting over you.” The verity of her emotions erupted out of her before she could even think about restraining them. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s clear that you still mean something to me, especially when I get pissed off that you didn’t even acknowledge me on the fucking street.”

He ra
ked his fingers through his hair in aggravation. “What do you want from me right now, Yoori?”

“
I don’t want you to leave me!” she blurted out, shocking both Tae Hyun and herself. She couldn’t stop as the words continued to stampede out of her. “I could forgive you for bringing me into this world because I know that if you hadn’t brought me in, someone else would have and I probably would be dead by now. But I can’t forgive you for lying to me all those months. I’m so angry and disappointed with you!” Her lips trembled uncontrollably. “I wish I didn’t care so much that you followed my request and actually stayed out of my life. I wish I didn’t care about you so I could move on. But it’s obvious that I can’t. I can’t stop thinking about you. I’m miserable without you, you addicting bastard! I want you with me so I can stay mad at you.” Yoori paused for a moment before brokenly adding, “I don’t want you to give up on me.”

“Give up on you?”
Tae Hyun was floored. “Do you have any idea the things you do to me? If this was any other situation, then I would’ve said, ‘fuck it’ to your requests and chased you down already. But since it was you who demanded that I stay out of your life, I respected that because you had every right to be angry and punish me.”

He breathed in
anguish.

“I don’t know how else t
o apologize to you, Yoori. I fucked up. I know I did. I wish I wasn’t as corrupted when I first met you. I wish I wasn’t such a manipulative bastard when I brought you into this world.” He bit his lips as wind descended upon them. “I wish the corrupted, heartless, and manipulative bastard in me would’ve been stronger. That way, I wouldn’t have fallen for you and be in the shithole that I’m in right now. I’m not the same guy anymore; if I was, then I couldn’t care less about who wants to kill you, I couldn’t care less about the guys you talk to, and I couldn’t care less when you looked me in the eyes and told me that if you could do it over again, you would’ve chosen Ji Hoon over me. If I was the same guy, then I wouldn’t be in a world of hell right now.”

Yoori fell quiet for a minute, not knowing how to respond to his words.

“Did you really drive away when you saw me talking to Ji Hoon?” Yoori asked instead, her heart already fighting to jump out of her chest as it yearned for Tae Hyun. The emotions he evoked paralyzed her.

“Of course not.”

Relief filled her. “Where the hell did you park?”

“
Down the street until he pulled you into a corner and I couldn’t see you anymore. I was going crazy until I saw you driving away and saw that you weren’t leaving with him.”

Yoori smiled to herself.

So, he had been there all along
. . .

“I thought you gave up on me,
” Yoori faintly whispered.

No m
atter what happened between them, no matter how upset she was at him, no matter what lies she told him, he wasn’t supposed to give up on her. They had too many obstacles in their way for him to give up on her so easily. Yoori realized
that
was why she was so depressed when he didn’t acknowledge her on the street. She thought he had given up so easily when there were worse things coming their way.