The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (5 page)

Yoori clenched her jaw and shook her head. After all this time, he was still trying to pit her against Tae Hyun.

“I will not let you resurrect her nor will I wage a war against Tae Hyun,” she told him adamantly. “I am done with them—both of them.”

“Is he really done with you?”

Yoori didn’t miss a beat. “Yes.”

“Then why are his men with you every second of every day?” he asked, causing her to freeze in place. “Why are you driving his car and why are you pining after him?”

“I am not,” she whispered, only able to answer the latter part of the question.

“You are.” He smirked knowingly. “You have broken free from him physically, but not emotionally. It will only be a matter of time before you go back to him and be at his mercy again.”

“I am done with him,” Yoori repeated through clenched teeth. The pain ached inside her. It felt like she was attempting to convince herself more so than Jung Min.

“He is not done with you,” Jung Min pressed on without mercy. “You are his favorite toy, and Kings like Tae Hyun do not let go of their favorite toys easily. He will figure out a way to win you back, and when he does, the next time he breaks you, you will not be able to rise from your fall.” He tilted his head. “Follow my advice as your past self once did. I did not steer her wrong. Look at what she became in this world.”

“She died,” Yoori said tightly, fighting to keep the emotions buried deep inside her. She could not show it; she could not show Jung Min her weakness.

“She became an immortal in this world,” he corrected immediately. “She is now a crowned jewel in this unforgiving society.” He stood closer to her. His voice became softer, more mentoring. “Do you really not see how incredible that type of power is? How can you choose this shameful state in life when you can have all the power in the world?”

“I do not yearn for power.”

Jung Min grinned, gesturing a hand to the throne. “Sit on the throne.”

Yoori shook her head, refusing to budge even though deep down she wanted nothing more than to sit on that throne.

“It’s not for me,” she said with difficulty.

“It doesn’t belong to anyone right now. Sit.”

Yoori could no longer deny herself. The throne was beckoning her and she no longer had the strength to deny its enticing call. Slowly, she moved towards it and sat. At once, this surge of euphoria came over her. The tightness that once plagued her body eased. After weeks of feeling like a lost soul—like a pathetic soul—everything in the world finally made sense.

“Close your eyes.”

She closed her eyes.

“Imagine a room filled with the most powerful men and women in the world. Imagine the ones who have the power to control a city, dictate the laws of a country, and shift the fate of a world any which way they like. Imagine all of them packed into this room. Now imagine them falling to their knees when they see you sitting on this throne. Imagine how euphoric that feeling is, to know that the most powerful Kings and Queens in the world are kneeling before you because you are their God—because you are their Lord. There is no feeling greater than power; there is nothing more desirable than this throne.”

Yoori agreed.

As much as she hated to admit it, she agreed.

It did not matter how much she had fallen in life, how pathetic she had become. It did not matter how badly she had been treated. None of that mattered, for everything had led her back to this throne, to this blissful state. This was her remedy from all the problems in the human world. No one could touch her on this throne. When she sat here, she was above all the troubles of the world. She was better than human; she was finally a God again—

“Tae Hyun.”

Yoori broke out of her trance when she heard his name.

She unsteadily stared out at the world below. Her eyes immediately fixated on the coffin.

Jung Min continued, relentlessly spewing poison into her mind. “Imagine all that divine power and imagine Tae Hyun wanting that power too. Imagine him fighting you for your throne.”

Territorial anger sparked inside her.

She clenched her hands on the arm handles.

Jung Min fed off this territorial emotion. “You have played dead for long enough. There is only room for one God on this throne, just as there is only room for one failed God in that coffin. Would you really choose to lay in that coffin for Tae Hyun?”

Yoori stood abruptly. The conflicting emotions were suffocating her. She no longer had time, or strength, for this. She moved past him. “Let me out of here.”

“I know that right now, you do not want to fight him,” Jung Min persisted, slowing her in her tracks. “I know that you still have feelings for him, but do you remember what you said to me when you were younger?”

Yoori stopped by the landing on the stairs and awaited his answer.

“I asked Soo Jin why she kept fighting, and she told me that she was fighting for the one who would be worth all this hell. She was fighting for the one who would make her an immortal God. She spent her life training and perfecting her skills to prepare for her war against another God who would immortalize her in this world.” He walked over to her on the landing. His eyes were piercing, poignant. “You have found him, Soo Jin. You have finally found the one you spent a lifetime training for.
This
is the epic war that you’ve always dreamed of;
this
is the moment you’ve been waiting for all your life. Wage a war against him, kill him, and only then will you finally know true immortality.”

Yoori lost all semblance of control when Jung Min said, “kill him.”

Akin to a monster awakening inside her, she lifted her leg and kicked him hard on the stomach.

Boom!

Jung Min was sent flying down the stairs. His groans echoed throughout the estate as he fell over every step.

As he made his way down, Yoori started to calmly walk down the stairs.

“My name is Yoori,” she declared as she followed his falling body down the stairs. Her voice was calm, yet her eyes blazed in anger. She had enough of Jung Min’s poisonous instigations. “I am not An Soo Jin. I am not your advisee, nor am I your puppet.” 

Jung Min finally landed on the ground. Breathing painfully, he gazed up as she continued down the stairs. Her eyes were on him every step of the way.

“I may not be your beloved Queen, but I am still a force to be reckoned with.
I
singlehandedly killed those eleven bastards in the alley, not Tae Hyun or Soo Jin.
I
am the one who is standing before you alive and breathing, not Soo Jin.”

She stopped at the last remaining step and stared down at him with unforgiving eyes.

“If you ever pull another stunt like this and have those bastards kidnap me again, I will show you how powerful I can be. Soo Jin is not here, but you do not want to test me. Her wrath will never match mine. If I am truly a fallen God, then I have nothing to lose. Soo Jin did not have the guts to bury you in that coffin, but I do. And trust me, if I bury you in that coffin, you will never come out again.”

That said, she strode over his body and made her way out of the estate. Never once did she look back.

Long seconds later, when she was finally out of sight, Jung Min smiled like he just witnessed the return of a long lost Queen. Yoori’s reaction was
exactly
what he wanted from her all along.

“Welcome back to the Underworld, child,” he whispered with a cruel smirk. “I hope you enjoyed your fall. Now it’s time for war.
”

“Are revered like Kings and Queens. . .”

03: A Royal Run-In

“Shin Jung Min literally kidnapped you?” Kang Min asked incredulously the following night.

Yoori nodded, uncomfortably playing with the edges of the book she was reading.

After she returned from Ju Won’s house of horrors, Yoori was immediately greeted by horrified Serpents who were shocked that they had not only failed to protect her last night, but that she also had battle wounds to show for their failure. They had asked her what happened, but Yoori, who was still fazed by Jung Min’s instigations, refused to talk to them.

It wasn’t until Kang Min, who had been absent since her fight with Tae Hyun, appeared at the library did she relent. At the offset, she was intent on giving him the cold shoulder. Much like her bitterness toward Jae Won, Yoori was also pissed at Kang Min.

Despite her cold treatment, Kang Min persevered, telling her that he wasn’t trying to trick her; he only had her best interest at heart. He explained to her that he had to choose between trusting Tae Hyun to watch over her or trusting the Underworld to “take care” of her. Given that the former was the lesser of the two evils, Tae Hyun was the best option. Although Yoori still harbored some resentment toward Kang Min, she also needed someone to talk to about this. Even if it was an abbreviated and very shortened version of the true story, she had to at least let something out.

“Yeah. He literally kidnapped me,” she confirmed. “He still thinks I’m Soo Jin in disguise and he was trying to ‘resurrect’ her. He had these guys beat me in the limo, and he even locked me in a coffin at Ju Won’s mansion. It was
horrible and creepy. I’m glad it’s over.”

“That old bastard,” Kang Min muttered to himself before saying, “How did you make it out? The guys said that they saw you walking back to your apartment. No one dropped you off. You just literally walked. How did you escape from Jung Min?”

“I gave Jung Min a piece of my mind,” she said softly.
And I kicked the shit out of him
, she amended in her mind.

“And he let you go just like that?”

“Yeah,” she confirmed with a shrug. “I mean, I told him again that I’m not Soo Jin. I told him that Tae Hyun and I are over and that I’m done with the Underworld. I guess after all of that, he got tired of me and decided to let me go.”

Kang Min shook his head again. Although he was only eighteen and had a face that resembled an innocent angel, the current hardened features on his face told another story. He looked pissed beyond measure. “I can’t believe he had five men beat you in a limo. That old bastard is sick.”

“I handled myself,” Yoori hinted to him vaguely.

Kang Min was not paying attention.

“I know who the five trainers are,” he assured her, anger still radiating from him. “I’ll take care of them for you.”

“There are five of them and one of you,” she reminded. “And they were the ones who trained Soo Jin.”

“I was trained by An Soo Jin
and
Kwon Tae Hyun. I think I’m good—”

Kang Min stopped talking when he saw the light change in Yoori’s once emotionless eyes. She had been spreading so many lies about being “fine” with her current predicament, but her anchor to this world would always be Tae Hyun. He was always the one who reminded her that she wasn’t fine, that she was broken.

Kang Min shifted uncertainly. After a long minute of silence, he asked, “Do you want an update on him?”

“No,” Yoori said at once. Even though secretly, she did. But she would not torture herself. He was out of her life for good. She did not need to be curious about his well-being.

“Okay,” said Kang Min. He looked around uncomfortably again. “Well, I’m really glad you’re okay. Jae Won and Hae Jin will be relieved too once I update them.”

Yoori looked at Kang Min. She pushed her book closer to her chest. “They know I was kidnapped?”

“Yes.” He glared at the Serpents at the other end of the library. “Our fellow Serpents over there told us about your
. . .
bruised state last night. They didn’t know what happened, but they knew it was bad, which was why I decided to brave your wrath and make an appearance today.”

“Brave my wrath?”

Kang Min swallowed, looking more like a fearful teenager rather than a badass in a black leather jacket and dark pants.

“I know you’re mad,” he reiterated. “And I wish you didn’t find out the way that you did, but please know that Jae Won and I only wanted the best for you. What Tae Hyun did was wrong, but he really fell for you—”

“It’s done,” Yoori interrupted. “I have moved on. Your boss has moved on, and it’s time for you and Jae Won to move on as well. I was upset with you, but I’m not pissed anymore. I want to forget everything and not dwell on all this useless stuff.”

He nodded. “Then does this mean that you’ll return Hae Jin’s calls soon?” When Yoori went still, he plowed on. “She truly didn’t know anything. She only found out recently when she noticed that you had been avoiding her. Out of the whole group, she was the only innocent party.”

Yoori ran her fingers through her hair and tried to conceal her frustration. “I have to move on, Kang Min. That means I have to let go of things—and people—who will prevent me from doing so. I can’t be friends with Hae Jin anymore. I have to move on.”