The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (2 page)

In the midst of adjusting into her new life, her best friend Lee
Chae Young, was discharged from the hospital. When Yoori visited her, Chae Young’s boyfriend, Jae Won, was there with her. Jae Won, who was in Tae Hyun’s gang (and An Soo Jin’s former right-hand man), had been by his girlfriend’s side since she left the hospital. While Yoori was able to refrain from having another guilt-stricken breakdown, it still tore her apart to be in Chae Young’s company. As absurd as it sounded, she didn’t feel worthy enough to breathe the same air as her best friend. Despite this torturous feeling, Yoori didn’t show it externally.

Yoori’s thoughts drifted from the fictional book she was reading to a memory of what took place the last time she visited her best friend.

“Is everything okay? You look thinner than before,” Chae Young had observed during one of Yoori’s visits. Her face was also pale. Unlike Yoori’s though, Chae Young’s face was still marred with healing bruises and scars.

“Everything is okay,
” Yoori lied with a forced smile. It agonized Yoori that even in her own state of misery, Chae Young was still watching out for her. “You know me, I suck when it comes to dealing with cold weather. I’ll be better soon.”

Chae Young nodded, her sad eyes detecting the lie
in Yoori’s voice.

Yoori kept
a reassuring smile on her face. Standing at a modest 5’3” with big eyes and plump lips, Yoori was a force to be reckoned with when she smiled. She had the ability to make people feel reassured, like the heartless world was actually a safe place. It was a power that, for the good of everyone around her, Yoori used and exploited daily.

Jae Won was busy
preparing dinner so she had some alone time with Chae Young. During the course of their conversation, Chae Young wasn't inclined to talk about the details of what happened to her in the diner. Yoori respected this and played along. They spoke about nonchalant things that meant nothing to either of them. While they spoke, Yoori also decided it would be better not to update Chae Young on the situation with Tae Hyun. It was an odd thing that two best friends couldn’t confide in each other. One was traumatized while the other was consumed with guilt. Yoori wished she was stronger for Chae Young, but she knew if they even mentioned Tae Hyun or spoke about what happened in the diner, then she would likely have an emotional breakdown that would push Chae Young over the edge. Yoori couldn’t do that to her best friend. She’d rather suffer in solitude.

It wasn’t until
Chae Young left to shower that Yoori was snowplowed into talking about Tae Hyun. The force behind this ambush was Jae Won. Yoori had been ignoring Jae Won the whole time she visited her friend, and she was not happy when he finally confronted her.

“I know that things are over between you and Boss Kwon
, but why are you ignoring me too?” Jae Won confronted with frustration.

They could hear the showerhead running as they stood in the hall
.

Jae Won, looking like a refined aristocrat
with a rugged quality to him, eyed the bathroom door. He towered over her. He was dressed simply in a khaki jacket and jeans. Had Yoori not seen his fighting capabilities firsthand, she would venture to say that he looked like a spoiled rich boy who had too much money and too much time on his hands. In reality, he was far from the spoiled rich boy. He was a formidable figure in a powerful Underworld gang. He may have served Kings and Queens, but to the rest of the world, he was a deadly royal in his own right.

When Jae Won determined that Chae Young wasn’t within earshot of their conversation, his attention returned to Yoori.
He, too, knew that it was best to keep all the drama away from Chae Young. She needed time to heal; she didn’t need to be hounded with other worries.

“You
knew he was using me all along, and you didn’t warn me,” Yoori answered irritably. She clenched her fists in resentment. “You just watched as he played me for a fool—you
and
your brother.”

She
’d had time to mull over everything and a big realization came over her: Jae Won, along with Kang Min who was his younger brother and part of Tae Hyun’s gang, knew all along that Tae Hyun was using her.
That
was why they told her in the limo they weren’t sure if Tae Hyun could be trusted. It was because they knew that her relationship with Tae Hyun had been forged on lies. They knew and never told her. She loved the brothers, but her pride—her hatred for feeling betrayed—was all consuming. As far as Yoori was concerned, cutting off ties due to the betrayal didn’t end with Tae Hyun. It extended to the brothers too.

“Why the hell would we tell you
since we all knew you’d run off because your damn pride means more to you than your own life?” he snarled. For the first time since she had known him, Jae Won’s face contorted in anger while speaking to her. He was beside himself with fury. “We knew he used you to get me, to get my gang to merge with his. That was why I hated him in the beginning.
That
was why I told you not to trust him. But as time went on, it became obvious that he fucked himself up because he fell for you. We took back our uncertainty and told you that we thought he could be trusted because we both knew that he would take care of you, regardless of the decisions he made in the past when he didn’t even know who you were to begin with.”

Yoori snorted at his last sentence
. “You’re siding with him?”

Jae Won made a rude sound as
well. “Boss, do you honestly think that Kwon Tae Hyun is the type of guy who brings girls to lake houses, creates personal made Winter Wonderlands for them, and decorates his apartment for their birthdays? Do you think he did all that just to get into your pants?” He shook his head. “He did all of that because he felt guilty for bringing you into this world. He wanted to take you away from the cruelties of this world and allow you to temporarily live in a dream world.” His eyes became aggrieved. “He may have dragged you into this world for his own selfish needs, but he’s paying for it now. He’s fucked up his status and power in this world. He’s paying for it now, and he protects you more than you’ll ever know. I told you that I trusted him—I still do. I’m not siding with him; it’s just that I empathize with loving someone who suffered because of the world I brought them into.”

It was only then
that Yoori saw guilt devour his eyes. Jae Won understood Tae Hyun because he related to him. Jae Won blamed himself for what happened to Chae Young; he blamed himself for bringing her into this world. Yoori breathed in painfully. The guilt he felt was something she wanted to relieve him of. It wasn’t his fault that Chae Young was raped. The burden rested on her and her alone.

When
she was about to muster up the courage to tell him that none of this was his fault, the bathroom door opened.

Chae Young came out
in her white sweater and pink pajama pants. The outfit dwarfed her normally tall figure. Chae Young used to emanate the most vivacious aura but for the past few weeks, as the weight came off her like the falling water from her newly washed hair, she looked like a shell of her former self. The very sight broke Yoori’s heart.

“Are you guys ready to eat?” she asked meekly.

Dread assailed Yoori as she stared at Chae Young. She no longer found the valor to voice her guilt. She became a coward again and wanted to run away.

“I actually have
to return some books to the library,” Yoori shared with a smile that hid the storm brewing inside her. “We’ll have dinner together another time, okay?”

As Chae Young nodded
in confusion, Yoori walked over and gave her a huge hug. She pulled out, gave Jae Won a stiff nod, and left without another word. As she exited the building like the coward she was, Yoori belatedly realized she didn’t have her keys.

Damn
, she thought.

Rushing back, Yoori qu
ietly reentered the apartment. Chae Young and Jae Won were no longer outside. From the mumbled voices coming from the hall, she deduced that they were in Chae Young’s bedroom. Yoori slowly inched in to look for her keys when she froze like ice. She was taken aback when she heard soft sobs emit from Chae Young’s room.

Chae Young’s
cries spilled over her like acid rain, sending aches to eat at her heart. It was then that Yoori realized Chae Young had been holding in her tears this whole time, waiting for her to leave. Yoori wanted to rush into the bedroom to comfort Chae Young, but she resisted the urge. She couldn’t see Chae Young at that moment without breaking down as well. God help her if she broke down again. Her chest tightened while she suppressed her own tears. Unable to withstand it, Yoori quickly grabbed her keys and left before anyone found out she was there. She trusted Jae Won to take care of Chae Young, holding and comforting her as a boyfriend should
. . .
as Tae Hyun once held her when she needed a shoulder to cry on.

Yoori chewed on her lips.

She had never felt more alone.

Heaving a quiet
breath as she thought about Chae Young and what happened that night, Yoori flipped the next page of her library book. It had been days since she last saw Chae Young, and the pain was still fresh within her.

“
Shh! Go outside if you want to make a call.”

Yoori lifted her gaze from her book
when she heard murmuring from the other corner of the library. The source of the sound came from three men. All were dressed in dark puffy jackets, jeans, and beanies. They were three of the many men who had kept her company in the library for more than three weeks now.

A
lthough Tae Hyun hadn’t made an appearance in her life since their fall out, that did not mean that Serpents gang members hadn’t appeared in her world either. After moving back into her apartment, Yoori noticed that there were Serpents watching over her and following her everywhere she went. If she hadn’t recognized some of them, then she wouldn’t have even suspected she was being guarded. She hadn’t complained because they had all been very quiet. She also wasn’t a fool. She knew her life was in danger. Regardless of where it came from, she would accept all the protection she could get. Lastly, she felt alone so it was nice to know that wasn’t actually the case.

“Miss, we’
re about to close in fifteen minutes,” a library assistant informed Yoori, smiling warmly at her as Yoori’s gaze averted from her unofficial bodyguards.

Yoori nodded at the young college girl, thanking her for the notice before the girl went to inform other library patrons that it was time to pack up.

It was closing time again.

Another day gone by
. . .

Snow was pouring when Yoori walked out of the library. She pulled the white hood of her jacket over her black ponytail and raced to her car. She peered at the rearview mirror after she started the engine. Like clockwork, three Serpents got into their black BMW, ready to follow her.

Yoori drove in silence, thinking about nothing in particular. She parked a block away from her apartment and was running home when she suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her.

She stopped in her tracks and looked around.

Countless people walked around her in the drizzling snow. Yoori looked across the street. The Serpents were in their car, drinking coffee while looking all around to make sure no threats were present. The feeling of someone watching her became more prominent, and she knew it did not come from the Serpents in her company. Yoori surveyed the street again. Though people surrounded her, the sensation of being watched did not appear to be coming from those who stood in her direct line of vision. It felt like it was coming from above.

Her gaze gradually climbed up to one of the taller buildings on the block. Her heart jolted to a quick stop.

What the?

Was it her imagination or was someone standing on the roof of that building?

Yoori blinked the snow off her eyes and continued to keep her focus on the silhouette above. She began to walk toward the shadow when the sound of tires screeching distracted her.

“Watch out!”

She averted her eyes in a panic, thinking a vehicle was coming for her. Her breath steadied when she saw that a red truck had skidded to a stop in front of a young couple jaywalking on the street. Luckily, the truck stopped in time. The couple waved their apology to the driver and ran off into a nearby apartment building. The truck resumed driving and everything returned to normal on the street. Yoori took her eyes off the scene and looked back at the top of the building. Surprise met her when only an unoccupied roof greeted her eyes. The mysterious shadow was no longer there.

Yoori blew out a relieved breath. It was nothing after all. Shaking her head at her overactive imagination, she wasted no more time and hurried up to her apartment. She stepped in, flicked on all the lights, and locked the door. She was about to step into her bedroom when she heard the sound of someone breathing.

Yoori straightened like a cobra on the attack.

She moved back into the hall. Slowly, she started approaching the living room. She stopped cold once she spotted the silhouette of someone hiding behind the bookshelf in her living room.

“Shit!”