The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (42 page)

And then, Yoori felt her heart
crack.

It became clear to her
why Soo Jin needed her own brother to believe she was dead.

The memory of
her conversation with Tae Hyun, when she found out he murdered his own brother, hurled into her mind. She remembered the words she said to him when she thought he killed his own brother to assume the Serpents’ throne. Although those words evaded her understanding before, it made complete sense to her now.

"Why did you kill your brother?" she asked, growing infinitely more curious.

"Why are you so angry with me?" he fired back, dissatisfaction prominent in his voice. "Did you talk to Ji Hoon to punish me?"

"What?
No. I ran into
—
" She paused to regain her composure. This wasn't about her. She was not the one on trial here. "No, it doesn't matter. What's your reason?"

"You answer my question first."

"I asked you first."

"I care about your answer more. Just tell me
—
"

"
I empathize with your guilt," she proclaimed thoughtlessly. Her gaze rounded when she realized what she said.

Frustration dissipated out of Tae Hyun's eyes. Stupefaction took its place. "What?"

Yoori bit her lip, berating herself for answering without thought. The answer also didn't make sense to her. What was she thinking giving him that nonsensical answer?

"Forget it," she voiced irritably, aggravation mounting over her flushed face. "I really don't care enough to delve deeper into this. Whatever your reason, I hope it was good enough to kill your own brother."

Blood drained from Tae Hyun’s face. The ticking clock of the bomb in their minds ran to a close. He, too, understood the sickening truth.

“
Ju Won never wanted anything from the Siberian Tigers.” His eyes noted the excess of shame and remorse resonating from Yoori’s trembling stance. “All along, he wanted—”

“
Young Jae.” Tears embroidered her reddened eyes when she finished Tae Hyun’s sentence.

They gazed at one another, the storm becoming
more and more ruthless outside. Her world tilted on its axis. The bomb she had been sitting on had finally detonated, and Yoori was left in shambles. All this time, Yoori and Tae Hyun had been talking about people in the Underworld being masters of deceptions when in truth, the biggest master of deception had been Soo Jin all along.

Just when I thought you couldn’t be
more of a heartless monster
, Yoori thought disgustedly.

R
evulsion inundated her now frail body. If Tae Hyun weren’t holding on to her with such care, then she would’ve allowed herself to fall over and slam her head against that loose brick.

“
That
was the unfinished business that Soo Jin owed Ju Won,” Yoori said with difficulty.

She fought past the tears that were rising up
through her throat.

“
To be officially crowned as the Queen of the Siberian Tigers, and to be a potential candidate to become the Lord of the Underworld, she had to betray Young Jae and give Ju Won her older brother’s head. All along, she had planned to murder her own brother.”

“
For we are plagued with the never-ending pursuit of power.”

17: The Dissolution of Blood

For the following days, Tae Hyun became occupied with Serpents’ activities, the contents of which he wouldn’t divulge to Yoori. Yoori, on the other hand, had locked herself in his apartment while avoiding calls from her brother. The more Young Jae tried to call, the guiltier Yoori felt. She was continuously reminded of the plans she—or more specifically, Soo Jin—had for him.

Yoori couldn’t eradicate the guilt that seemed to
increase every time she took a breath. She could not believe Soo Jin conspired with Ju Won to betray her own flesh and blood. Yoori’s insides churned at the mere thought. How could someone be so evil? How could someone be so heartless?

Yoori was
so revolted with Soo Jin, and ultimately herself, that she didn’t know what to do.

She despised
herself for being curious about An Soo Jin. Nothing good ever came out of learning more about her heartless alter ego. Yet Yoori, always weak when it came to wanting to learn about her past, gave in. Now the repercussion of giving into this despicable addiction was rearing its ugly head.

T
he only solace Yoori took in being Soo Jin was that the monster (and Yoori used this word very kindly) felt guilty enough to try and kill herself to make things right. However, after discovering that Soo Jin never planned to die, and that she had an intricate plan to betray her brother, Yoori was at her last straw. How much longer could she attempt to separate herself from the very monster who owned the body she was in right now?

Yoori
was on the edge and she knew it. She had never felt more broken and weak in her own skin. In addition to all of this, she had never felt more alone. She still felt terrible and didn’t want to burden Chae Young with her problems. She wasn’t ready to confront the brothers about their involvement in Soo Jin’s plans. She didn’t want to involve Hae Jin since she, along with Chae Young, were the only two in the group who saw Yoori for Yoori—and not as an alter ego of Soo Jin. She sure as hell wasn’t planning on going to Ji Hoon for consolation. The fact that he was more than willing to help Soo Jin carry out her plan drastically changed Yoori’s opinion of him. Though his love for Soo Jin was partially admirable, it wasn’t enough to subdue the suspicious nerves within Yoori. There was too much about Ji Hoon that she didn’t know, and frankly, she didn’t want to deal with him. She was afraid that Tae Hyun’s warning about him may be right, and that in the end, she would probably end up hurt by Ji Hoon.

The only person she needed,
and the only person who was capable of comforting her, was Tae Hyun. Sadly, he was nowhere in sight. The distress piling in Yoori’s gut worsened at the remembrance of Tae Hyun. His behavior toward her was disconcerting her. She had no idea if he was out of sight because he was revolted with Soo Jin or if he was avoiding her because he finally realized that she was the enemy. Yoori didn’t know what to think. He wouldn’t talk to her and that was enough to amplify the weight of despair in her already heavy heart.

“Tae Hyun, are you still upset with me?
” she finally asked him over the phone. “Is that why you’re ignoring me right now?”

She
had avoided calling him for days now, hoping against hope that he would come home and talk to her. After days of not hearing from him, she couldn’t dispel the desire to simply hear his voice. Giving into another weakness of hers, which was Tae Hyun, she disposed of her pride and made the pitiable call.

His dark
, yet soothing, voice permeated the phone, calming her nerves, but leaving her to yearn for his presence.

S
he pressed the Blackberry closer to her ear.

“No, that’s not it at all,” Tae Hyun replied swiftly, alleviating the paranoia she was feeling.
The alleviation was only diminutive in its effects. She could hear the strain in his voice. It sounded like he was keeping something from her and this made her uneasy. He went on, the strain becoming more apparent to her. “I’ve just been really busy, that’s all. Just stay home and rest. Once I get some things settled here, I’ll be with you soon. But for now, I’ve sent Kang Min over to keep you company.”

Yoori digested his words. Although
bothered that he was keeping something from her, she took solace in knowing that she didn’t revolt him.

Her mind went elsewhere
when she thought about Kang Min. “You’re not upset that he merely joined the Serpents under Soo Jin’s orders?”

“His loyalty to you makes up for any disloyalty
to me,” he assured her without hesitation. “I’m not angry with Kang Min or Jae Won.” The tension that once held his voice was replaced with firm conviction. Yet, as he continued to speak, she could still hear an underlying distance attached to it. “I knew what I was getting into when I allowed Kang Min into the gang. I knew I was never going to have his full loyalty, but I wanted him anyway for his skills. So far, he has been nothing but an asset to the gang. And Jae Won joined the gang because of a forced merge. I already knew I wasn’t going to get much loyalty from him. However, both have been nothing but loyal and vigilant with helping to watch over you. I’m not faulting them for anything.”

Unable to help herself, Yoori allowed something that crossed her mind to sift out as she sensed the distance
from Tae Hyun’s voice. “Are you thinking about all the stuff Soo Jin did? Are you disgusted with her? Is that the real reason why you’re avoiding me right now?”

T
he pitifulness in her own voice no longer mattered to her. She yearned for Tae Hyun to appear by her side so he could take away her pain, even if it would only be momentarily. If there was one thing she feared might push Tae Hyun away, it would be if he found out what a heartless bitch Soo Jin truly was. After what they discovered the other night, Yoori could understand why Tae Hyun might be keeping his distance from her. Understanding, however, didn’t help mend the pain. The selfish part of her still prayed that he would accept her regardless. Wasn’t their relationship stronger than that?

“No,” he answered quickly, clearly sensing the desolation that had cloaked over her.

Yoori knew that Tae Hyun had probably straightened in his seat if he was sitting. She could envision his face contorting in worry at the accusation. She could still detect his intense feelings for her even if he still wouldn’t tell her what was going on.

“I’m not av
oiding you, Yoori,” he told her in a hushed voice. “What I’m doing right now, I can’t tell you yet. But know that it’s important. I wouldn’t leave you for it unless it’s something that is really pressing.”

The silence
to come told her that she was getting no more out of this conversation. Her heart dropped at his passive dismissal. Defeated that her own boyfriend was keeping secrets from her, she decided it was best to end the call before she became any more paranoid. The old, combative Yoori would’ve called him names and demanded that he give her an answer. However, Yoori wasn’t feeling like herself. She simply felt
. . .
crippled.

“I guess,” she started, her chin wobbling slightly, “
I’ll see you when I see you then.”

Yoori
vaguely heard Tae Hyun bid his swift goodbye before ending the call.

She attempted
to disregard the heaviness in her chest.

The
doorbell rang right after Yoori hung up the phone.

Knowing that it was Kang Min, though surprised that he
had arrived to her apartment so fast, Yoori prepared herself with an artificial smile on her face. She didn’t plan on confronting him or Jae Won about Soo Jin’s plan; she didn’t plan on making herself more miserable.

Get it together. Just deal with Tae Hyun and the Soo Jin crap later
, she told herself.

Yoori stood and straightened
the white cowl neck sweater and the blue jeans she was wearing. Eager to forget about everything and hang out with Kang Min, she drew in a preparatory breath and opened the door without looking through the peephole.

Her smile was
wide and filled with warmth. “Hey Kang—”

Yoori’s greeting dissolved
in her throat once she saw that the person standing before her wasn’t Kang Min.

It was her older brother.

“Hey little one,” Young Jae greeted delicately, smiling at her. He was wearing a black trench coat and black pants. His face was as warm as ever.

“Oppa,” Yoori croaked
bewilderingly, feeling the guilt and worry bubble within her like volcanic lava. “What
. . .
What are you doing here?”

S
he had just gotten off the phone and was already stressing over her relationship with her boyfriend. She wasn’t mentally prepared to deal with her older brother.

Crap
! Shit like this only happens to me,
she thought glumly, attempting to do away with the “deer-caught-in-headlights” expression on her face.

Yoori continued to panic internally. W
hat was she going to do? She wasn’t ready to face her brother of all people!

H
er worried eyes kept their gaze up on her older brother. His smile was warm, yet despondent, as he stared down at her.

Was it normal for her to feel such
love for him when she had only “met” him several days prior? She didn’t remember anything about him, but she could feel the adoration, familiarity, and warmth that came from merely being in her brother’s presence. That was the thing that Yoori came to realize about her amnesia. Despite not remembering specific memories, the instinctive nerves of her body—her heart—remembered clearly the sense of comfort that only siblings could share with one another. She loved Young Jae. She loved and cared about her brother with all her heart. This alone made it all the more difficult to stand before him.