The End of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 4) (26 page)

“I promise it’ll all be worth it. Every splendid, euphoric, and magical moment of it will be
worth it
.”

“Love is every God’s worst nightmare . . .”

12: The Queen’s Forbidden Fruit

With a blindfold covering her eyes, Soo Jin took a slow and deliberate step into the arena of her estate. The breeze from the air conditioner stirred around her, following her as her boots echoed across the tiles. Soo Jin tilted her head and carefully listened to the sound of those breathing around her. Although she could not see them, she knew that they were everywhere . . .

After leaving Tae Hyun in Japan and taking a private plane back to Seoul, Soo Jin had been unable to categorize her disjointed thoughts. She could not stop thinking about the mind-blowing kiss they shared or the emotions he elicited from her. She could not deny how his very existence affected her. This type of affliction was a foreign one for her. She was not the type of person who could be easily disconcerted. She was raised to possess power over every aspect of her emotions and to be a master at keeping her feelings controlled.

But Kwon Tae Hyun was something else.

He wasn’t the best of them, and he wasn’t the worst of them; he was simply the most dangerous one of all.

He was the one who captivated the Queen in her with his impressive fighting abilities and cunning mind. He was also the one who captivated her human self. Though “Yoori” was long dead, Soo Jin was smart enough to deduce that the death of a counterpart—who owned her body for a good three years—did not mean that the residual feelings that counterpart felt died as well. In matters pertaining to sexual frustration, Soo Jin could not deny the desire she felt for the King of Serpents whenever he was in close proximity. The simple truth was that he was a threat to her entire existence. This was why, for the days following their trip to Japan, she opted to avoid him until she had better control of her own body.

In addition to avoiding Tae Hyun, Soo Jin was also preoccupied with thoughts about her family. She felt her heart ache at the reminder of Ho Young and Young Jae, and then she felt her heart clench in agony at the thought of her father. The very scene of the three of them together one last time—right before her brothers killed her father—haunted her.

Only in my world,
Soo Jin thought with immeasurable sadness, wishing to herself that she was stronger than this pain.

She exhaled tightly and stowed those dreadful thoughts away. The only purpose they served was to bring her down and make her weak—the very human aspect she promised herself long ago that she would never fall victim to again. She no longer had time to be weak. She had to get stronger; she had to become more powerful. And the only way to do that was to train her mind, body, and what was left of her soul.

For the days that followed, Soo Jin made up for lost time by training every minute of everyday to prepare for the biggest fight of her life. The scheduled war with Tae Hyun was now a mere week away. Every single day, Soo Jin could be found on the grounds of her Siberian Tigers’ estate, wielding swords with precision, shooting guns with accuracy, and knocking her Siberian Tigers to the ground with unrivaled ease.

While Soo Jin was training herself, she was also training her Siberian Tigers. It was said that one night of training with the Underworld Queen would lengthen a gang member’s life for a month, for the skills and wisdom they acquired from her was invaluable. The Queen, no matter how young in age, petite in stature, and cruel in nature, was a skilled mentor. She did not believe in raising soldiers; she believed in raising future Kings and Queens. This was why more than three hundred of her Siberian Tigers were in attendance at the arena. Lips sealed shut, they watched in rapt silence as their Queen fought with twenty-eight of their brothers and sisters.

With the darkness from the blindfold encasing her eyes, all Soo Jin could use was her other four senses—primarily her hearing—to determine the location of the twenty-eight Siberian Tigers training with her.

She took inventory of all the sounds around her. She calculated the proximity of their breathing, assessed the sounds of ruffling, and after she sensed the fear that emitted from them, the positions of all twenty-eight Siberian Tigers became clear in her cloaked eyes.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

“Ah!”

The first three spin kicks, four elbow-punch combo, and five axe kicks was what sent her Siberian Tigers flying throughout the room in pain. The next seven sweeping leg kicks and thirteen bone-vibrating punches set forth a productive night of training that she knew would successfully educate the ones around her. While fighting with the Siberian Tigers on the ground floor, Soo Jin shouted out coaching instructions to those sitting in the stands. She did all this while the blindfold continued to encase her eyes; it didn’t deter her ability to conquer her twenty-eight opponents.

“I promise it’ll be worth it . . .”

His
cursed words haunted her mind as she dismissed all of the Siberian Tigers from the arena.
His
blasphemous words continued to occupy her thoughts as she jumped on the balls of her feet and kicked, punched, and demolished a punching bag with all the aggravation that she had. There was a plethora of emotions that she couldn’t compartmentalize. To worsen her already fragmented state, she also felt handicapped with a certain dissatisfaction that had plagued her since she regained her memories. She did not understand what the malady was. She just felt utterly incomplete; she felt numb to everything around her.

To some degree, Soo Jin would even daresay that she was quite bored with her life.

After her historic homecoming, life had become something of a drag. The casualties from the war she instigated no longer entertained her, the reverence she received from her society no longer fazed her, and the fact that she was close to getting everything she wanted in life no longer excited her. The only thing that kept her going was the thought of getting crowned as the ultimate God in her world and finally sitting on that coveted throne—that and something else . . .

Slipping her red bathrobe on after an invigorating shower, Soo Jin sat quietly on her couch. She drank her favorite heavenly tea and stared in a daze at the fireplace. It crackled peacefully, illuminating the dark room and acting as music to her ears.

Soo Jin drew in a deep breath, taking another sip from her red teacup. She could feel the beginnings of a headache commence in her head, yet the prominent thing on her mind was a memory she didn’t want to recount. Her index finger mindlessly grazed her lips. The image of Kwon Tae Hyun—all hot and dominating—as he kissed her like the world was ending rushed through her like a typhoon. It brought forth emotions that were so powerful that it shocked her back to life. The very remembrance of her hands savoring the feel of his hard chest livened the more numb part of her heart. The thought of him was simple, yet the reasoning of
why
he evoked such a potent reaction from her was mindboggling.

What a temptation . . .

Soo Jin bitterly concluded that three years of inactivity in her own body had definitely fucked her up. She resented that she felt more like a stranger in her own body than the owner. How was it possible that she could have so little control over her own state of mind? She tried to condition herself to despise Tae Hyun, to feel aversion every time she thought about him. Sadly for her, every time she thought of him, all she could feel was warmth and longing. He had too much power over her, and it did not sit well with her. No one in this world should possess such power over another human being.

Before her thoughts could lengthen, the sound of impending footsteps jolted her out of her reverie. Her gaze averted from the fireplace. She locked eyes with the ones who would never fail to make her smile with their presence.

“Hi boss,” Kang Min greeted quietly, treading into the living room with a black beanie, a zipped up jacket, and jeans. Despondency marked his features as he smiled softly at her.

“It’s been a while, boss,” Jae Won remarked, walking in with a pair of black jeans and a brown zipped up jacket. His face was pale while his lips quivered from the wintry weather he walked in from.

Soo Jin’s once heavy heart lifted. With one leg crossed over her knee, her bare feet kicked out elatedly at the sight of them.

“Hey kids,” she greeted with the endearment she had given them since they were young. Even though they were anything but kids, Soo Jin couldn’t break the habit. They would always be like her little brothers.

She smiled widely at them.

Since her return from Japan, she had not had the opportunity to converse very frequently with the brothers. They had all been extremely busy with resurrecting a once extinct gang. The brothers hadn’t had time to chitchat with her like three years ago or like when she used to be Choi Yoo—

No.

Soo Jin shoved back the thoughts of that unpleasant name. She further took her mind off of it by gesturing for the brothers to follow her into the kitchen. While they fixed themselves evening snacks, she nonchalantly informed them that she wanted the Siberian Tigers to not only actively kill Skulls and Scorpions, but that she also wanted them to start going after more Serpents.

Although the brothers’ solemn reactions did not elude her, she respectfully ignored them. She recognized their conflictions whenever the Serpents were involved, and she, quite frankly, did not want to trouble herself with their dilemma. It was imperative that she turned the Siberian Tigers into the most powerful gang in the Underworld. She could only do that by fracturing Tae Hyun’s precious army. Regardless of how charming he was, Soo Jin would never forget that Kwon Tae Hyun was a threat to her entire existence. His simple existence was the single roadblock in her quest for the throne. For that, his legacy had to be destroyed; he had to be eliminated.

She drank the last of her tea after they returned to the living room. She abruptly found that she could not take her eyes off the brothers. More specifically, she could not take her eyes off the dark circles under their eyes. An unsettling feeling besieged her.

Before registering what she was doing, Soo Jin said, “I know we haven’t been able to talk much, but I just wanted to thank you for everything—especially for things pertaining to Yoori.”

Sitting on the sofa adjacent to hers, they looked up at Soo Jin in surprise. Their widened eyes indicated that they were shocked. They did not anticipate that she would bring up the topic she had been working so hard to evade.

Soo Jin did not know herself why she was suddenly treading on this topic. Perhaps it was because she finally saw the physical maladies on the brothers’ faces—a clear result of being troubled and conflicted with her return. Her homecoming brought back a war, and they were ultimately caught in the crossfire.  

Having garnered their attention and feeling a bit uncomfortable with what she was about to vocalize, she struggled to go on. It may have been her prerogative to avoid this topic, but it was their right to get closure on it.

“I know how loyal you were to Yoori. I’m also fully aware of how well both of you took care of her. Thank you for that.”

“It was our honor, boss,” Kang Min replied warmly.

Beside him, Jae Won nodded in response. Their eyes were beaming. After weeks of avoiding this subject, they were relieved that she finally opened this topic for them to venture on.

And now that she had paved the road for them, it was time for her to quench her own curiosity.

“Do you guys miss her?”

The brothers had never lied to her. They respected her too much to do so. When she asked them that question—and all she received from them was silence as they averted their gazes from her in guilt—she knew their answer.

Yes, they missed Choi Yoori.

Soo Jin tried to swallow past the pit of jealousy. It brewed in her stomach, bubbling about like volcanic lava. She inhaled sharply, keeping a smile of nonchalance plastered on her face.

She swiveled her eyes to Jae Won.

Now all she wanted to do was change the subject away from this painful topic.

“Earlier today, you said there was something you wanted to ask me. What is it?”

“Is it possible for me to have the day off tomorrow?” Jae Won inquired tentatively, guilt still visible in his eyes. He had missed Yoori, but he did not want to offend Soo Jin with this truth. The fact that he was not as elated with his boss’s return tormented his conscience. 

“Yeah,” Soo Jin approved, smiling at him to appease his guilt. She angled her head in curiosity. “What’s the occasion?”

“Tomorrow is Chae Young’s birthday,”—something leapt in Soo Jin’s heart at this— “and I plan on helping out at the diner before we take her to dinner.” He swallowed uncomfortably. “There’s something else about that as well.”

“What?” Soo Jin asked, her insides clenching when she registered that it was her—or Yoori’s—best friend’s birthday tomorrow.

“Hae Jin will be there,” Jae Won said in a low tone.

Kang Min, who was staring off in a daze, looked at Jae Won in surprise. The numbness in his demeanor vacated as soon as he heard Hae Jin’s name.

“I don’t know if that’s appropriate or not,” continued Jae Won, eyeing both Soo Jin and Kang Min with apprehension, “seeing as the Underworld is at war.”