The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (15 page)

“Our lives would be easier if we gave up on each other
, wouldn’t they?” Tae Hyun asked, his eyes holding hers.

Yoori nodded. It would be
much easier if they could walk away from each other and be fine without each other.

Tae Hyun
exhaled, placing his hands into his pockets as if to keep himself from reaching out to her and holding her in his arms. “If you want me to stay out of your life, then I’ll do it. If you want me here with you, then I’ll do it. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.” He gazed at her. “What do you want, Yoori? What do you need me to do?”

“What do
you need me to do?” she parroted stupidly, not knowing what answer to give him. She was conflicted with the need to be angry with him and the need to throw herself in his arms and bask in his warmth.

“
I need you by my side,” he told her without hesitation. “Plain and simple.”

When he said those words, a memory of their first encounter sparked in her head, playing out an image of them discussing the specifics of her job duties in the limo. She recalled Tae Hyun telling her that she could fuck up anyway she wanted to. His only requirement was that she had to be by his side whenever he called for her, whenever he needed her. Yoori smiled at the memory. She doubted Tae Hyun remembered the conversation and the bullshit
promise she made him. But to her, a promise was a promise. If she made it, then she would follow it through. Especially when it was a promise to Tae Hyun.

Yoori
would’ve never forgiven anyone else, but this was Tae Hyun. After three weeks of missing him, she knew she couldn’t go on without having him beside her. Pride aside, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could go on ignoring the aching feeling in her heart. Yoori looked at him with hardened eyes. She refused to be seen as a doormat though. She wasn’t forgiving him because she was weak; she was forgiving him because this was his second chance.

“We will not be boyfriend and girlfriend anymore,” she stipulated, intent on not making this easy for him. “We will start over. Fresh and on a clean slate.”

The smile he gave her was breathtaking. “I’d like that.”

Yoori touched his face, using all her might to not allow his charms to distract her.
“If you use me or do anything like that to me ever again, I’m going to rip your eyeballs out.”

A
wider smile took over the curve of his lips.

“Never again,” he promised.

“I’m serious,” she reiterated.

“So am I,” he said without hesitation.

She nodded slowly, and he smiled before saying, “So, are we good? Can I use my charms now?”

Yoori gaped at him strangely.
Before she was able to voice her perplexity, Tae Hyun had already filled the space of air between them. He pulled her against him and effortlessly lifted her up. While Yoori instinctively wrapped her legs around his hips, he pressed his lips against hers.

W
hite-hot heat seared through her soul when Yoori kissed him back. The desperation, yearning, passion, and adoration she had for him were all wrapped up in the breathtaking kiss they shared. She could scarcely breathe, but who the hell cared? Hating him aside, Yoori couldn’t deny the blazing sex appeal he continued to emanate while he ran his hand down her hair as they kissed like there was no tomorrow. They had more issues to address and more problems to resolve, but for that night, Yoori was content with enjoying Tae Hyun's company. Everything else in the world could wait.

“Never again, baby,” h
e promised, melting her insides just by calling her “baby.” “Never again.”

“But,” she whispered in between their kiss, “we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. You can’t kiss me like this
. . .
”

Despite her protest, Yoori did not attempt to break the kiss. It felt too good to stop.

“We’re still friends,” he crooned seductively. “Best friends.”

He
slowly lowered her onto the snowy bench hidden in the corner of her apartment building. She hadn’t realized he walked such a long distance while they were making out.

“
Wait!” Yoori gasped, staring owl-eyed at him when he was about to lean down and shower her with kisses on her neck. “What are you doing?”

Her bout of horror momentarily lapsed when the sexy God smiled suggestively at her.

Oh no.

She
had heard about this, stories about couples getting into big fights and forgiving one another with passionate make-up sex.

“Tae Hyun, we’re too yo
ung!” Yoori whispered, genuinely panicked about the possibility of them having sex—even though physically, her body was more than ready.

A frown veiled his face. H
e was affronted. “What the fuck, Yoori? How disturbed do you think I am? We’re outside in the snow
. . .
and in public no less. I’m not going to have sex with you out here. I’ll be damned if anyone else sees you naked.”

She blinked at him awkwardly.
“Then why are we here like this?”

“I
just want to be with you outside,” he said simply, pulling her up into a standing position. He laid himself across the bench.

Yoori stood beside the bench, scowling down at him.
“There’s no room for me.”

“You can sleep on top of me.”

“
What?
”

“You’re my girlfriend,” he noted with a sinfully seductive voice. He accomp
anied that beautiful voice with a playful smile. “You can sleep on me. It’s not against the rules.”

“I’m not your girlfriend anymore,” she reminded him.

“You’re still my ex.”

“U
m
. . .
”

“Stop being such a baby,” he provoked impatiently. “We haven’t seen
each other in three weeks. We should be having steamy hot sex right now instead of hanging outside in the cold. Since we’re out here, we should make the most of it.”

Now that he mentioned the cold, Yoori realized that she was freezing.
Teeth chattering, she said, "We're not staying out here long, are we?"

"No, just for a couple more
minutes and then we'll go back inside. Having said that, hurry and get on me. I’m cold and I need body heat.”

Yoori grinned bashfully. Even though she wanted to appear demure and shy (since she was no longer his girlfriend and all), she was inwardly excited to be close to him physically. With a blush firmly cloaked on her cheeks,
Yoori carefully laid herself across Tae Hyun.

They were no longer a couple, but they were still friends.

It couldn’t hurt for friends to do this, right?

She was instantly rolled onto the side of the bench, laying
on him slightly while also hanging off the edge. She should’ve felt uncomfortable, but leaning on Tae Hyun made everything feel safe. His arms were wrapped tight around her, his body heat protecting her from the snow frosting over them. In that moment, everything was perfect in her little world again.

“
This is the part where we start over and promise to tell each other everything, right?” Yoori asked, staring at him as snow continued to fall steadily around them.

Tae Hyun
nodded, a look of conviction present in his eyes. “Yes. I’m not keeping anything from you. Whatever you want to know, ask. I’ll tell you everything.”

Yoori nodded at his words. Although their reunion was the highlight of her night,
Yoori hadn’t forgotten the burning question she had in the club. “Can you tell me who the Hwangs are?”

“If you’re
really ready to talk about this, then yes.” He stared into her eyes. “Are you sure you want to know?”

She understood his hesitancy in telling her. It could trigger something that would break her again. Yoori knew it was probably b
est to keep herself in the dark. However, she was ready for this, especially now that she had Tae Hyun with her again.

“I have to know who I killed that night.” She
chewed her lips, fighting past the nervousness. This was the moment of truth. A very scary but much anticipated moment. “Who are they and who is Hwang Hee Jun?”

From there
, the road to her enlightenment began.

“Hwang Hee Jun was the
King of the Siberian Tigers,” Tae Hyun answered. “It was his family in the club that night.”

Puzzlement claimed her features.
“I’ve never heard of the Siberian Tigers.”

“Yes,
you have,” he assured her. “You haven’t heard their name, but you know of them.” As the beginnings of exacerbated confusion morphed over her face, Tae Hyun promptly added, “The Siberian Tigers were the fourth most powerful gang in the Underworld five years ago. I told you about them when I was giving you a history lesson on the Underworld. They were the ones who were—”

“—exterminated by An Young Jae before h
e took over the Scorpions’ throne,” Yoori finished for him when she recalled the history lesson he gave her months ago. Something else struck her. “Wait. But you told me that Young Jae killed the
entire
lineage five years ago.”

Tae Hyun nodded, encouraging her train of thought.

“But that family was with Soo Jin three years ago
. . .
”

He nodded again, confirming that she was on the right path.

“The entire lineage wasn’t killed,” Yoori concluded. She felt something still inside her at her own words. This was becoming unsettling. The wheels in her mind spun faster. “Was this information fabricated by the Scorpions so Young Jae could get his throne?”

“Young Jae only needed to kill Hwang Hee Jun to take over the Scorpions
’ throne and he did that,” said Tae Hyun. “However, it was said that the
entire
lineage was killed when the Scorpions attacked the Siberian Tigers’ estate.”

Like a new day, k
nowledge dawned in Yoori’s eyes. “Could it be possible that an extended family of the Siberian Tigers went into hiding after the attack and the Scorpions kept quiet about it while they tried to find the rest of the family and finish them off?”

“You would only go after someone like
that—especially an entire lineage—if they had information you’d kill to have,” Tae Hyun answered, conjecturing what may have happened that night in the club.

Yoori followed his lead as another realization seized her
. “Your assassins said that thirty-four people were killed. It wouldn’t be possible for Soo Jin to restrain thirty-four people by herself, right?”

Tae Hyun
nodded in confirmation.

Uneasiness struck her.
“Soo Jin couldn’t have been in that club by herself. She had to have been with others. She had to have been with her brother.”

Tae Hyun nodded once
more before asking her a dead-end question that they both had no answers to.

“The question is
. . .
what broke Soo Jin to the point where she tried to commit suicide, and what caused An Young Jae to escape from the Korean Underworld and disappear for the years after?”

Hopefulness lit her eyes. “Do you have a hypothesis for that?”

“Not a very good one.”

Yoori looked at him eagerly. Tae Hyun was one of the smartest people she knew. She trusted that whatever his reasoning was, it would be a great one. “Share with me anyway.”

“Soo Jin was a powerful figure in the Scorpions gang, but she was under Young Jae’s rule nonetheless,” Tae Hyun provided shrewdly. While he spoke, snow started falling more fiercely around them. “For something of that magnitude, which involved a Royal family that Young Jae supposedly exterminated when he assumed the Scorpions’ throne, Soo Jin had to have been under Young Jae’s supervision. If I were the King in question, I would only go after an
entire
lineage like that if they had a secret I’d kill to have, or a secret I’d kill to bury with them.” He glanced at Yoori intently. “I can’t begin to guess what happened that night, but the only thing I know is that An Soo Jin and An Young Jae were very close siblings. Their loyalty to one another was unrivaled. Whatever threat the Siberian Tigers held, it was catastrophic enough to destroy one and break the other. And unfortunately, unless one of them returns to the Underworld and enlightens us about what took place, it is unlikely we’ll guess anything concrete.”

Yoori paused before asking, “Do you think he’s still alive?”

Tae Hyun didn’t miss a beat. “Yes.”

The certainty in his answer surprised Yoori. “How are you so sure?”

“Because if he’s dead, all of the Underworld would know. A dead King cannot command the flow of information that pertains to him; only a breathing King is powerful enough to silence the mouths of those he comes across. Since his disappearance, I have heard little to nothing about him. This only means two things: he is not only very much alive, but he is also still very much powerful.”