The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (37 page)

“Y
ou don’t have to, Tae Hyun,” she appeased feebly. “I understand that there are secrets I shouldn’t know about your gang. You don’t have to let me in on everything. I’m satisfied with being privy on how the initiation works. You don’t need to show me more than that.”

“You don’t want to
see if we can find something at the Siberian Tigers’ estate?”

Yoori stopped in her tracks.

She gaped up at him in confusion.

“But—”
Realization dawned in her eyes. Adrenaline gushed through her veins when she realized what was being insinuated. “Are you saying that the second Serpents’ estate was originally—?”

“The Siberian Tigers’ estate,” h
e finished for her. “When I came into power, I wanted to move away from the old estate that my brother housed. The Siberian Tigers’ estate was abandoned, so it didn’t take me long to stake claim over the property and establish that estate as the main Serpents’ estate. It’s been a while; there might not be anything left there.” He shrugged again, readjusting his hood to keep it firmly above his head. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I’m just putting it out there for you.”

Yoori’s eyes were beaming. She would go anywhere if she had the chance to discover something new.

“Of course I’ll go,” Yoori coolly replied, smiling as something else came to her mind. Since they were already on the topic of being honest and open to each other, she couldn’t let this opportunity pass by. “I know we already discussed this, but can you come with me and have dinner with my brother the day after tomorrow?”

The mood
suddenly dampened. She had already invited Tae Hyun once and he had already declined her offer. They got into a heated argument about it earlier in the day. Yoori was upset that Tae Hyun wouldn’t give her brother a chance and Tae Hyun was upset that Yoori would demand him to, especially considering how Young Jae treated him the night before. The dispute was eventually settled before their jog, but as it appeared, the fight was ready to rear its ugly head again.

A frown darkened
Tae Hyun’s visage. He swayed his head agitatedly, unclasping his hand from hers.

“You always know how to ruin the mood, don’t you
?” he reprimanded, striding ahead of her.

Yoori stared after him in bewilderment.

“What a freaking jerk,” she muttered to herself when she realized he had just ditched her. All because she invited him to have dinner with her big brother? Well, she couldn’t accept his childish antics!

Yoori
picked up her pace and caught up with him. She was vexed, but she knew patience was a virtue that should be employed with an incredibly stubborn Tae Hyun.

“Stop it. Just come have dinner,” s
he urged, nearly crashing into a little toddler as she struggled to keep up with Tae Hyun. He was walking inhumanly fast. She cursed under her breath at his stubbornness. “What’s the big deal?”

“Why should I? Weren’t you there last night?”
he snapped, quickening his pace. He was beside himself. “Your brother’s fucking insane.”

“He’s just overprotective,
” Yoori amended weakly.

She
understood the hostility on Tae Hyun’s part. After what took place, it wouldn’t have surprised Yoori if Tae Hyun completely wrote her brother off as a lost cause. Despite his qualms about her brother, Yoori hoped that Tae Hyun would still make the effort to get on Young Jae’s good side. After all, he was her boyfriend, and the universal rule for all boyfriends was that they should do everything in their power to get on their girlfriend’s older brother’s good side.

“No,” Tae Hyun corrected swiftly. He finally stopped to face her. He wasn’t going to allow her amended categorization to go by without his input. “Overprotective is me telling Kang Min that if he hurts my baby sister, I’m killing him and making sure he dies a slow and painful death.
That’s
overprotective.”

He
shook his head disbelievingly.

“But your brother is insane because it appeared
that overnight, I became his most hated enemy. I mean, I met him briefly when I was crowned the King of Serpents, and at that time, he was actually civil with me. He didn’t seem to hate me at all. Hell, I’d even go as far as saying that your brother was
nice
to me when we met. But apparently last night, I became his biggest enemy because I’m seeing his sister? Do you not see how insane that is? I can handle it if the guy acted like he hated me from the start, but it’s like he flipped a switch and only decided to hate me so he could pull you away from me. There’s something about that guy that I just can’t—”

When he glanced over and
saw the disappointment in Yoori’s eyes, he relinquished his verbal thoughts and went silent. He had his own opinions, but he wasn’t keen on hurting her with them.

Yoori closed her e
yes at his nonsensical babbling. Normally she would let him have his way because she realized how stubborn Tae Hyun could be, but this was different. This was her
brother
, her only family member. She also couldn’t ignore the insinuating tone from the last part of his speech.

“W
here is this all coming from?”

The muscles in his jaw bunched
. He looked away. “I don’t want to say it.”

“Damn
it,” she commanded, grabbing his arm to have him face her. “Just tell me.”

“I don’t trust him,” he
finally shared, “or Ji Hoon.”

Yoori expelled a tired breath
. She should have known they were going to voyage on to this topic.

She gazed up at him
doubtfully. “Wasn’t it just last night that you and Ji Hoon showed each other an ounce of respect? What changed?”

“That was before I had tim
e to think about it in the limo,” he told her. “I can’t pinpoint what it is, but there’s something off about them and how they behaved last night.”

When Yoori sighed, Tae Hyun became defensive.

“I heard shouting,” he explained, sensing that she was ready to mentally block whatever he was trying to tell her, “in one of Ju Won’s rooms when I was speaking to some of the crime lords. Then I heard more shouting and a big commotion. Moments later, Ji Hoon came out and he was heading towards the west wing. From what you told me about what happened last night, I think he went straight to you afterward.”

She folded her arms across her chest and feigned interest.
“Did you see who else came out?”

“No.
I was too distracted with Ji Hoon. I think the other person slipped out while I wasn’t looking.”

“So
, Ji Hoon and my brother had an argument,” Yoori deduced logically. “Probably the same one about Ji Hoon trying to make sure I don’t regain my memories.”

“But he was
pretending
he didn’t know it was Young Jae when we found you dancing with him.”

“Tae Hyun
. . .
” Yoori wearily responded before Tae Hyun interrupted her.

“
I knew you were going to react this way,” he told her, his eyes emitting disappointment that she was categorizing his suspicions as trivial.

“Look, I know you’re thinking that there’s something else to it
, but stop being like this. My brother and Ji Hoon really care about me. They’ll never hurt me.” She exhaled before unthinkingly saying, “You’re just being paranoid.”

“
Paranoid?” He gaped at her incredulously. “This isn’t paranoid. In this world, there is no such thing as paranoid. I’m being careful right now.” His steel-eyes scrutinized her. “You’ve been introduced to another level in this world, Yoori. All the people we’ve met, they are masters of deception. Some of them are so good that even
I
get fooled. Last night, for example, I was momentarily fooled by Ji Hoon. But the thing I’ve learned—the thing that has gotten me to where I am—is my ability to find anomalies in their behaviors because even the best liar slips up. It’s up to the one being lied to, to catch those slips.”

“
You’re telling me that my brother, the one who hid me from this world for my own safety, and Ji Hoon, the one who’s so in love with Soo Jin that he gave up power in this world for her, are trying to hurt me?”

“I don’t know,”
he said with exasperation. “I’m just telling you that nothing is always as it seems. You have this thing about you, Yoori, where you try to see the good in everyone when there’s no good for you to see. You’ve only seen the side that Ji Hoon wants you to see, but I know Ji Hoon. He can’t be trusted. Period.”

Yoori
inhaled sharply, not even absorbing the substance of his words. “Are you going to tell me you think my brother can’t be trusted either?”

Suddenly
, a hostile conversation about her brother and Ji Hoon was quickly transitioning into a venomous conversation between Yoori and Tae Hyun. She felt horrible for conceiving such idea, but she couldn’t help but think about the moment where she found out that
he
had been deceiving her. He shouldn’t be so quick to venture on to the topic of “trust” when it was only recently where she found out that he betrayed her trust. She had forgiven him, but sins like that were rarely forgotten.

“Look,” Tae Hyun began
, reading her mind. “I know that I’ve fucked up in the past, but I’m really trying to make things right here, Yoori. Trust me when I say that I wouldn’t be treading on this topic unless my gut is telling me that something is wrong. My gut tells me that something is off about your brother, and it’s not because he hates my guts. And something is definitely off about Ji Hoon—”

Yoori un
folded her arms in defeat. She really wanted to end this conversation. They were getting nowhere.

“
I don’t doubt that you want what’s good for me. I just think your rationale is understandably biased when it comes to Ji—”

“
You don’t believe that I’m looking out for you when I warn you about Ji Hoon?” Tae Hyun interrupted, his voice throbbing with hurt and insult.

Yoori was now at her wit’s end. “W
hat more do you want me to say? I trust Ji Hoon, too, Tae Hyun!”

How could she not?

After all Ji Hoon had given up for Soo Jin, how could she not trust him?

“He can’t
be trusted!” Tae Hyun snapped. His face was evident of repugnance once he saw how emotional she was getting about Ji Hoon. “All the façade that he’s giving off right now, it’s not real!” He scrutinized her in distaste. “I didn’t even realize how affected you were by the façade until I saw the sympathy in your eyes when you looked at him last night. But now
. . .
now I see that you’ve been pushed into the deep end of this. To think I thought you were one of the few who saw through him.”

“
Kwon Tae Hyun, stop it!” she bellowed, unable to contain her anger. “You’re just being like this because you’re jealous and you’re afraid I’ll leave you for Ji Hoon!

Tae Hyun fell silent at her words.

Yoori, herself, went quiet. She bit her lips in frustration, already regretting what she said. She was such a dumbass to say such things. She didn’t mean it. She wanted to apologize, but it was too late. Tae Hyun would have none of it.

“So
, you really think jealousy is all that’s driving me right now?”

Insult marked his face.

“Choi Yoori,” he chided sternly. “I was just trying to watch out for you. People think I’m the most ruthless person in this world, yet I know better. It had always been Ji Hoon, and if you can’t see it now, you’ll see it soon when he shows his true colors and screws you over.” He took one last hard glance at her before saying, “You know what? Fuck this.” He walked past her. “I don’t need to deal with this. Go be with your Prince Charming, but don’t come crying to me when he fucks you over.
I’m done.”

Are you kidding
me?
Yoori thought as she watched Tae Hyun storm off into the growing crowd.

Guilt gone, she started to feel infuriated as well.

“Kwon Tae Hyun!” she shouted irritably, hoping that he would return to her after hearing her call.

Within moments, he w
as gone, leaving her blindsided with shock. She was absolutely beside herself. How on earth did an innocent day end up like this?

“Then you are no longer a God.”

15: 57

“I can’t believe what an ass he’s being right now!” Yoori complained when she stepped into the hotel lobby.

“He was watching out for you and you
called him paranoid and jealous. What reaction did you expect from him, boss?” Kang Min questioned, walking alongside Yoori. Four other Serpents treaded behind them. They were all dressed in black with the exception of Yoori.

Since their altercation on the street, Yoori and Tae Hyun had been ignoring each other. Because Tae Hyun was too pissed off at her to accompany her
, and because Jae Won was preoccupied with Chae Young, Yoori was left in the company of Kang Min and four other Serpents who served as her bodyguards. Initially, she didn’t mind the company because she thought Kang Min, who was always the more sensitive one, was going to side with her. Unfortunately for Yoori, she found that he was on the enemy’s side.