The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (56 page)

A torrent
of blissful air flowed through her. It felt like the deep, abysmal part of her had finally taken a breath from the prison she held it in. She had always kept her fighting instincts buried deep inside her, afraid that just one ounce of lost control would release the killer from her body. She released that fighter, if only remotely, when she fought with Jin Ae and now, as she burst into the brightly lit bar with Kang Min, she knew that her control was slipping. She wanted to destroy Ji Hoon but, by God, she hoped she wouldn’t destroy herself in the process.

“Get Lee Ji Hoon out here or I’ll pump metal into your brains!” Kang Min shouted to the
dozen of Skulls members in the bar.

They had heard the gunshots outside and
fashioned a circular formation throughout the bar to protect their King. Each held black guns in their hands. All the guns were aimed at Yoori and Kang Min.

Edgy silence
manifested in the room, hanging over the bar like rain clouds. The tension was only broken when the man of the hour spoke.

“Yoori?”

And there he appeared.

Striding
out of the private hall, dressed in a navy blue dress shirt and black pants, puzzlement ruffled Ji Hoon’s face when he took in the scene before him. He surveyed the room, almost not believing his eyes. He had not expected Yoori at the bar, much less pointing a gun at him. He looked between her and Kang Min. Both still had their guns raised, ready to shoot everyone in the bar to get to him.

Yoori watched him carefully. She watched him stare at her with c
oncern washed over his face. His eyes ran over her gold gun. There was a slight flicker of annoyance in his eyes as he moved toward her and Kang Min.

“What are you doing, Yoori?” he asked carefully
, stopping a few feet away from them.

In a room
filled with armed and dangerous people, Ji Hoon was the only one who was unarmed and the only one who displayed no fear. He had good reason. He was arguably the strongest person in the room. Tae Hyun’s words replayed in her mind, reminding Yoori of how dangerous the man in front of her was. Ji Hoon did not become a King by birthright alone. He may not have been armed, but he was the deadliest weapon in this room.

Yoori
wanted to shoot him then, to assuage her bloodlust and avenge Chae Young. An apprehensive part of her prevented her from doing so. The wheels of her mind started turning while her eyes roamed over him. Memories of the care she had for him invaded her thoughts. She briefly wondered if she had jumped to conclusions too quickly. The small doubt acted as a change agent in her mind, releasing a flood of other doubts. What if it wasn’t him? What if this was all a mistake? What if
he
was framed? The bigger part of her told her that none of this was a mistake though. He had been the monster all along—a monster that she needed to kill before it was too late. She struggled with herself, the gun still held firm in her possession.

“It was you all along,” Yoori confronted, aiming her gun at him.
She did not know what to believe. She only knew that she had to get her answers now. There was no better way to get an answer than to point a gun at someone. “It was you all along, wasn’t it?”

If it was possible,
Ji Hoon’s visage became even more mystified. Yoori would even daresay he was hurt that she was talking to him in such a spiteful manner.

“
Yoori,” he started delicately, “what are you talking about?” Before allowing her to answer, he turned to his men. There was severity in his eyes for them. He was livid that they were pointing their guns at her. “Didn’t we have this lesson before? Lower your guns in her presence.”

Sounds of Skulls, very unhappily, lowering their gu
ns resounded in the tense atmosphere of the bar.

Yoori and Kang
Min, however, kept theirs up.

Ji Hoon faced Kang Min. The severity in his eyes remained.
“Lower that gun, Kang Min. My men don’t take it lightly when a gun is pointed in my direction.”

“Fuck you, as
shole,” Kang Min spat out, holding firm on to his gun.

Ji Hoon clenched his jaw. He tolerated the spitefulness from
Yoori, but not from a simple soldier in the Underworld.

“There are a dozen guns here and two
that belong to you and Yoori,” he went on patiently, his voice becoming sterner. “You were Soo Jin’s right-hand man, Kang Min. She trained you to know better than this. You know your odds. Would you risk yours and Yoori’s life when you know I’d evade your bullets anyway?”

Kang Min considered his words.
Though uncertainty strained his face, Kang Min listened to logic and cautiously lowered his gun. He was angry, but his anger took a backseat to Yoori’s safety.

Yoori
did not follow suit.

She kept her gun
up while Ji Hoon angled his head to his men and said, “Leave.”

“Bu
t boss
. . .
” one began with worry.

“
Leave,” he interrupted. His gaze returned its attention to Yoori. He looked past the gun she had aimed on him. His expression became softer when trained on hers. “I want to be alone with them.”

Knowing that it was futile to argue, Ji Hoon’
s men gave distrustful growls. They scowled at Kang Min and Yoori for a moment before piling out of the bar. After they were gone, Ji Hoon continued his conversation with Yoori.

“
To what do I owe the pleasure?” he inquired, making an effort to get closer to Yoori. Though it was blatant that Ji Hoon was not pleased with her still aiming a gun at him, he said nothing of the matter.

“Stay
. . .
Stay back!” Yoori warned, panicking at his growing proximity.

She
trembled while holding the gun in her hands. She didn’t know why she was afraid all of a sudden. At first, she was so angry and so sure that he did it. She couldn’t wait to kill him. But after seeing him, she felt uncertain. She did not know what to think—or what to believe.

“Why are you doing this, Yoori? Did Tae Hyun put you up to this?” Ji Hoon asked. He was almost near her when Kang Min pulled her behind him,
protecting her with the wall of his body.

She had enough with her own cowardice.
Yoori pushed Kang Min out of the way and faced Ji Hoon. One way or another, she had to settle things and set everything straight.

“It was you
, wasn’t it?” she accused, allowing everything to flood out of her. All of her bottled up emotions poured out into the bar. “
You
were the one who sent those eleven gang members to the diner and had them rape my friend.
You
tried to frame Jin Ae, but you were spotted getting out of the car and going right into the alley where Tae Hyun and I were. You
were going to check up on your men, weren’t you?”

Ji Hoon’s
expression was a veil of disbelief. He looked like he couldn’t believe the peculiar situation he was in.

“I
. . .
I have no idea what you’re talking about, Yoori,” he sputtered out seconds later.

“Stop lying, motherfu
cker!” Kang Min snarled from the side, his body prepared to lunge at Ji Hoon.

Yoori
placed her hand on Kang Min’s chest, silently telling him to calm down.

Despite being unhappy with the direction of the conversation, Ji Hoon looked directly in her eyes.
“Look,” he placated, logically going through all her accusations. “I was in the area when I heard gunshots. I went to see what was going on and I saw everything. I wanted to go in and help, but I saw that Tae Hyun already had a handle on things. I didn’t feel it was necessary to butt in, even though I wanted to help save you.” He exhaled breathily, shaking his head. “But I have no idea what else you’re talking about. I don’t know who your friend is, and I had no part in what happened to her.”

“How did you know there were
eleven gang members that I killed?” Yoori interrogated, not ready to rule him out yet. “When you came, Tae Hyun was already there and he was already killing more than the eleven gang members that I killed. There was no possible way you could’ve known the
exact
number.”

“I know how yo
u kill,” he answered easily. “I know how
both
of you kill your enemies. I knew you killed those eleven gang members while Tae Hyun killed the rest of the gang members that came after. You both have your own signature of killing. Of course I’d know who killed who.”

Yoori paused,
pondering his words. She was at a loss of what to say next.

Sh
it.

Wha
t he said made sense.

If Young Jae and Anna knew Yoori was alive because of how those gang members were killed, then this also gave Ji Hoon credibility.

“Who told you all of this?” he asked firmly, his expression scrutinizing.

“Ace,
” Yoori answered, not knowing where to go from there. Did she jump to the wrong conclusion again?

A hostile smirk overtook Ji Hoon’s lips.
“The lead Cobra? Tae Hyun’s right-hand man?”

Yo
ori could hear it in his tone. Ji Hoon was insinuating that Ace had an ulterior motive. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if that was plausible as well. Ace attempted to kill her only weeks before. Maybe he wasn’t as over it as she thought he was. Perhaps this was just another grandiose plot to get her killed.

“Your
right-hand soldier is Yen,” Kang Min confronted, knowing where Ji Hoon was planning on veering the conversation. He would not allow the diversion. His suspicions were purely on Ji Hoon. “There was a woman at the diner.”

“And Tae Hyun’s
right-hand is also a woman,” Ji Hoon supplied, verbalizing what Yoori was thinking. “Mina, as I recall.”

Disjointed with
the holes in her puzzle, Yoori tried to make sense of everything that was occurring. Was it possible? Was Ace playing her the entire time? Was it possible that it was Ace and Mina who did this, and Mina was actually the woman at the diner? Were they trying to pit her against Ji Hoon or was it the truth the entire time? That it was actually Ji Hoon who orchestrated this entire thing?

“You’re so quick to assume it was me
, but what if it was Tae Hyun the entire time?” Ji Hoon spoke up, feeding on the confusion eating away at Yoori. “What if he’s up to something, Yoori? Have you thought of that?”

“Boss, don
’t let him get inside your head,” Kang Min said before any further damage could be performed. He could see that she was doubting everything she discovered tonight. “Tae Hyun loves you. He’s not that type of person. He would never hurt anyone you love.”

“Tae Hyun is a revered
crime lord, Yoori,” Ji Hoon continued to instigate. He drew closer to Yoori in her numb, distracted state. “He’s a manipulative King and a very good actor. Right now, he could be playing you and you would be none the wiser.”

He brought his hand up and
held her pale cheek in his palm, staring deep into her confounded eyes. Yoori lowered her gun while he did this, giving him the opportunity to pull her closer to him. She felt so fragmented. She didn’t know what to believe anymore. Her mind couldn’t make sense of anything.

“Don’t doubt me, Yoori,” he whispered, his visage pleading for her to believe him.
“I wouldn’t lie to you about this. What happened to Chae Young was horrific, but I’m not involved. You have to believe me. I would never do something like this.”

Yoori didn’t know
what to do or who to believe.

She was confused.

She was so confused until Kang Min’s voice swam into her psyche and settled everything once and for all.

“
. . .
We never mentioned Chae Young’s name.”

And then there was n
o more doubt in Yoori’s mind.

Ji Hoon’s previous words echoed in her head.

“But I have no idea what else you’re talking about. I don’t know who your friend is, and I had no part in what happened to her.”

He lied.

He knew exactly who Chae Young was and what happened to her
. . .
because he was the one behind all of this.

After hearing Kang Min’s words and seeing the change of anger in Yoori’s eyes, Ji Hoon’s once warm eyes transformed into dark, icy eyes.

There was no more acting on his part.

He realized he
had slipped up and had been caught.

A cold smirk swept over his lips, and Yoori knew that confronting him would be the easy part. Getting out of this bar alive would be the hard part
. 

“Remember that the next time you become tempted. . .”

23: The Beginning of the End