The Fall of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 2) (2 page)

“Oh God…” Yoori replied in dread.

Sexy Tae Hyun had transformed into teasing Tae Hyun. She rolled her eyes at his mocking statement. The butterflies in her stomach vanished into oblivion. She didn’t need a mirror to tell her that she was anything but a “Sleeping Beauty.” Her bruised face and swollen eyes were anything but attractive. When taking into account that her hair resembled that of a bird’s nest, it was more than enough to convince her that Tae Hyun was purposely trying to make her feel bad about herself. 

“
Very funny
,” she muttered bitterly, instinctively burying her face a little further into the pillow so Tae Hyun wouldn’t be able to get a good look at her swollen eyes. She didn’t want him to know that she had been crying after her “initiation” into the Underworld. 

Tae Hyun scrunched his brows together. “What? You think I was joking when I said that?”
 

Yoori continued to roll her eyes, burying herself a little bit deeper into the pillow. “Whatever,” she grumbled dismissively.
 

Tae Hyun shook his head, disapproving of her assumption that he was taunting her. He said no more of the subject and
detoured onto another topic – a seemingly more pleasant one that brought playful warmth to his eyes. 

“I have a surprise for you,” he announced enthusiastically, reaching his hand out to help tuck her loose bangs behind her ear. His smile was uncontainable as he said this. He looked just like a kid who was excited to go to a candy shop.
 

“
What is it?” she mumbled suspiciously. Though she instinctively stilled after his fingers grazed her skin, Yoori’s eyes were still on him. 

He withdrew his hand. “We’re going to go on a company retreat.”

Tae Hyun’s alluring smile grew just a bit more when he shared this spontaneous information with Yoori. 

It was probably because the rays of the morning sun were hitting him at the right angle but for Yoori, Tae Hyun couldn’t look more genuine with his eagerness
while he sat there like a damn angel. He was acting especially odd this morning and she couldn’t put her finger on why he was acting so strangely. Whatever the case, she was intrigued. 

“Company retreat?” Her lips were already lifting away from the pillow in interest. “Like us and the entire gang?”
 

Tae Hyun gave her a “what
-the-hell-have-you-been-smoking” look and shook his head. He inched closer to her. “Just us.” 

She gaped at him, unable to hide her bewilderment. This was all so sudden. Did he just decide all of this last night or something?
 

“Why?”
 

He shrugged indifferently. “I think it’ll be good if I took you away from here for a couple of days. It’ll be a good distraction.” His eyes trailed subtly onto her face when he said this. She knew then that he was staring at the cut and bruise near her lips.
 

Quickly catching on to his motives for wanting to take her away, Yoori called him out on it. “You know, you don’t have to feel guilty about what happened. I mean…it was my own fault for insisting on seeing the Advisors when you told me not to.”
 

Jae Won and Kang Min, the two bodyguards Tae Hyun assigned to her, were held captive by the eldest Advisor, Seo Ju Won
. Ju Won had essentially told Tae Hyun that the only way he would release Jae Won and Kang Min was if he met Yoori. Against Tae Hyun’s wishes, Yoori insisted on going because she wanted to save them. She had her bruises to show for her decision. The Advisors, being the sadistic people that they were, decided to give her a five-minute initiation to “welcome” her into the Underworld. She was still reeling from their warm welcoming.

“It has nothing to do with that,” he assured, though his eyes told a different story. He sighed with dramatic boredom and craned his neck upward. He stared at the ceiling with tired eyes. “I’m just a little bit sick of Seoul right now. I just want to get out of here and go breathe some fresh air.”
 

“Where are we going?”
 

“I have a lake house. It’s about five hours out of the city. It’s secluded and very scenic. I haven’t been there in awhile and I feel like going again. It’ll be nice. You’ll like it there,” he said confidently before quickly adding, “Plus
, there’s ducks.” 

Yoori furrowed her brows. “Why would
 
that
 be a deciding factor for me?” 

He scoffed defensively, taken aback by her less than graceful reaction to the breadwinner he was using as his persuasion. “I don’t know. Don’t girls
like
ducks?”  

Yoori scoffed at his generalizing assumption. “I like to
eat
them.” 

He frowned. “Well, there’s ducks frolicking around my lake house and I think that
 should be the final deciding factor to make you jump out of bed. I thought you’d be one of those girls who actually adore the cuteness of ducks. Either way, you can ‘ooh and ah’ at them or chase after them with my gun. I could care less. All I care is that you go. ” 

His voice was so decided with bitterness that Yoori couldn’t help but laugh in amusement.
  She shook her head in between laughs. “Um…I don’t know,” she answered honestly. She was already beginning to feel the aches in her body now that she was awake again. “I’m really tired. I kinda just want to lay in bed all day.”

“You don’t want to get away from the Underworld for a couple of days?”
 

She paused when she heard something she liked.
 Get away from the Underworld for a couple of days? Well, that actually sounded really appealing… 

An impatient Tae Hyun took her silence as a response. “You can sleep in the car. Now hurry up and get ready.” He pulled the comforter off of her to get her moving faster.
 “I want to get there by sunset.”

Yoori flinched at the bout of cold that encased her once her haven of warmth was ruthlessly taken away.
 She inwardly groaned. She was still feeling so lazy. She decided to look for an excuse to stay in bed longer.

“But my hands are still filled with – wait a second!” She stopped her sentence midway when she observed that there were no more splinters in her hand.
 

She gasped, sitting up.
 

She gaped at her hand and then at Tae Hyun. He was gazing at her expectantly. It was gut instinct on her part, but she knew the disappearance of the splinters and Tae Hyun coincided together.
 

“Did
you
get rid of the splinters?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. She already knew it was him. “How on earth did you do it without me knowing?” 

She was impressed, very impressed and simultaneously intrigued.
 

Anticipating his answer to be a thought-provoking one, Yoori found
herself disappointed when all he did was smile slyly and said, “Magic.” 

She grimaced at his nonsensical answer. “Oh, so you’re an illusionist now?”
 

He shrugged with a smile, his impatience e
xuding out of him like the warm rays spilling into the bedroom. “Yes and if you keep stalling, the next things I’ll make disappear are your clothes. And trust me, if those disappear, you can bet your pretty little butt that I’m not letting you leave this bed. Now go get ready before I decide to bond with you in our bedroom instead.” 

When all Yoori did was stare at him to challenge his bluff, Tae Hyun suddenly made a move to grab her. Albeit all he did was lower his propped up leg and dropped his hand closer to her, it was enough to scare Yoori off the bed.
 

“Okay, okay!” she shouted, running into the bathroom.
 “I’ll get ready!”

“20 minutes! If you’re not ready by then, I’m coming in to help you move along!” he added, suppressing his laughter when he heard Yoori yelp in fear at his threat.

■
 ■ 
■

“Are we there yet?” Yoori asked for the umpteenth time. She finished the statement with a prolonged yawn. 

For the past couple of hours since they had been in the car, much to Tae Hyun’s continual insistence, Yoori had been sleeping. At first she combated that proposition, feeling guilty that she would be able to rest while Tae Hyun would be bored while driving alone. But when he hurled a warm, lavender throw blanket in her direction, her guilt was history. With the sound of the wind gliding itself along the surface of Tae Hyun’s black Mercedes convertible as her lullaby, Yoori conked out without a moment’s notice.
 

As she tried to readjust her sleeping position against the leather recliner, she felt cool air against her cheeks. The draft of cold wind was a gentle one. It was the kind where you could smell the fresh air and the misty water. The sensation was a pleasant one for Yoori. It felt like she was being pleasantly tickled into waking up.
 Unable to keep her eyes closed, Yoori lifted her eyelids to see that Tae Hyun had lowered the roof of the car down. It was apparently his subtle way of awakening her. 

“We’re here, Sleeping Beauty,” Tae Hyun announced, smiling at her once she was fully awake.

He laughed when he noticed that Yoori was still blinking her drowsiness away. 

Yoori frowned. She knew right away he couldn’t be laughing at anyone but her. Was it her fault that she couldn’t properly open her sluggish eyes after a long sleep?
 

Jerk-face,
she sourly muttered in her head. 

She rubbed her eyes to wake up more fully. Yoori’s vision gradually adjusted to the scenic world around her. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her body and gawked at the glory of Mother Nature’s handiwork.

She was lost in awe. 

The road that they were driving on was a windy and deserted one. Constructed tactically in the heart of the mountains, it did well to blend itself within the sanctity of the nature around it. Gold leaves danced around the car as magnificent trees stood in the acres of green field beside the road.

Yoori suspected then that Tae Hyun had woken her up because he didn’t want her to miss the breathtaking view. The curve of a thankful smile took form on her lips. If it was Tae Hyun’s mission to bring some warmth into her life by helping her forget about the shadows of the Underworld, then he more than succeeded. 

She couldn’t be more happy and distracted.
 

Yoori gasped in amazement when the contours of the road turned into a straight and narrow pathway. Her astonished eyes reflected a majestic lake that glistened in the wake of the late afternoon sun. The sun hovered beautifully above it, the touch of its golden rays gracing over the surface of the water.
 

Yoori raised her brows in curiosity when she heard soft
quacking sounds in the distance. She took her awestruck eyes off the lake and directed her attention to the side of the road. 

“Look!” She giggled, moving closer to Tae Hyun’s seat. She was unable to hide her enthusiasm. She pointed at a family of five waddling ducks, which consisted of a mother and four ducklings that were trailing along their slow moving car. “Aw! How cute!”
 

Tae Hyun laughed disbelievingly, thoroughly surprised by her
cheerful demeanor.

“I guess we’re not shooting ducks this weekend,” he observed
lightheartedly. He continued to drive down the narrow pathway of the road. A soft smile graced his countenance when he took a quick look around. He, too, was amazed with the world around them. 

“Isn’t it amazing here?” he said with a sigh of relief. His short black hair ruffled against the wind. He took in a deep breath.
 “
Ah
…” he exhaled slowly, following it up with a relaxed smile

Yoori nodded, lost in the scenic view of Tae Hyun being enveloped in the light of the sunset instead of the town she was being driven through. She already felt more at peace.
 

Catching herself before she grew lost in a stupor, she said, “It’s hard to believe that winter began last night.” She sighed, inhaling another lungful of fresh air. “The weather is so perfect here.”

She stared up at the near horizon. Its magnificent gold and orange hues enveloped the vast lake and acres of land beside it. 

“You know why the weather is perfect right now?” Tae Hyun asked playfully, the glow of the sunset’s rays resting over the exposed area of his chest. He had left a few buttons undone on his white-sleeved shirt, and it seemed to Yoori that the sun was trying to trick her into blatantly staring at it.
 

She made sure her eyes were firmly glued onto his face instead of the slightly unclothed part of his body when she happily answered, “Because we’re here!”

Tae Hyun chuckled, shrugging as he drove. “Well, I was actually going to say because 
I’m
 here, but sure, I suppose you can include yourself and get the credit too.” 

She wasn’t sure if he was joking but she decided to play along anyway.