The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (6 page)

“Excuse me, we’re closing in ten minutes,” the female library assistant reminded Yoori and Kang Min as she made her rounds through the library.

Yoori and Kang Min gave a polite smile. “Okay, thank you.”

They stood up.

Yoori slung her black wristlet over her wrist and pulled up the hood of her forest green hoodie. She then gathered her books and stacked them on a box to be shelved.

Yoori smiled softly at Kang Min. “I’m going to call it a night.” She paused before saying, “It was good seeing you.”

“You too, Yoori,” he said quietly.

“Have a good night.”

Without waiting for him to reply, she rushed out of the library. She was afraid that if she spent a second longer with Kang Min, then she’d want nothing but her old life back.

Y
oori bid goodbye to the librarian and the library assistant closing up at the front and sped outside to where the Mercedes sat. The winter cold spilled over her as she ran to her car. There was no snow or rain, but the night was still relatively cold enough that she was thankful she had her hoodie covering her head. As she was about to open the door, the call of her instincts had her frozen in her stance.

The sensation of being watched washed over her again.

Instinctively, her eyes veered up to the building down the street. She was greeted with the sight of a silhouette standing on the roof. Yoori squinted her eyes. She was about to move closer to determine if her eyes were playing tricks on her when she heard her Serpents bodyguards running out of the library. They rushed to their cars, ready to follow her to her next destination. She returned her eyes to the roof. The silhouette was no longer there.

For a paranoid moment, she wondered if it was one of Jung Min’s men stalking her and waiting to kidnap her again. She pondered it further for a second, and then dismissed it as nothing. After the ass kicking she gave Jung Min, she doubted he would send anyone after her anytime soon.

There’s no one on that roof
, she attempted to convince herself. It was just her imagination.

Her eyes returned to the library. There, she caught sight of Kang Min standing beside one of the windows. He gave her a small nod as he watched her from above. She smiled tentatively at him, waved goodbye, and got into her car. She breathed in deeply, doing her best to recollect herself. Now that Kang Min was no longer in her company, she finally felt like she could return to her numb state. It was a state that she preferred and one she was grateful to get back into.

As she was not too keen on whipping up another bowl of instant noodle for dinner, and because she was craving some burgers and fries, Yoori decided to head over to one of her favorite restaurants. When she reached the restaurant, she was floored by the crowd. The street was packed with people; there did not appear to be a close parking spot in sight. After circling the block a few times, she was thankful that she managed to find street parking a little further out. She was also thankful that she had placed her order on the phone beforehand. This allowed her to quickly run into the restaurant, get her food in a white to-go box, and make her quick exit within a moment’s notice.

“Excuse me,” Yoori uttered.

She dodged around a group of fancy looking girls. They were dressed in sparkly dresses with their makeup done to perfection. After that, she moved around a group of well-dressed guys who were meandering around the sidewalk.

Y
oori was in one of the upscale neighborhoods in Seoul. It was an area where the most high-class restaurants were available for people who had the money to afford the more extravagant dining in life. All around her were people who wore clothes and jewelry worth thousands of dollars. Truth be told, Yoori felt like an eyesore on a Christmas tree that had many beautiful ornaments. She was simply dressed in a forest green hoodie and blue jeans. The hems of her jeans were tucked into her black suede boots and that was the extent of her creative “fashion” sense. It was an understatement to say that she felt out of place. Yoori just wanted to get home as quickly as possible before someone started to think she was a mugger.

Yoori h
opped off the curb. She was standing in the space between her Mercedes and a black Jaguar XF-R when she heard someone call her name.

“Yoori?”

She whirled around. She restrained a gasp when she saw who had called out to her. There, in front of one of the most lavish restaurants in town, stood Lee Ji Hoon waving at her. He was dressed in black slacks and a navy blue dress shirt. He couldn’t have looked more like the ideal clientele for this restaurant. His black jacket hung off his hand as he advanced toward her. His black hair was slicked back tonight, giving him a polished look. In this space and time, he also earned giggles and whispers of admiration from a group of girls in the background. It was no surprise; Ji Hoon was as handsome as ever. Everyone on the street could see that.

“Ji Hoon,
” Yoori greeted in bewilderment, holding the to-go box close to her chest. She hadn’t expected to run into him—or anyone she knew for that matter. She was happy to see a familiar face. In the same degree, she was cautious with this meeting. She hadn’t forgotten how awkward they had left things. She hoped this meeting wouldn’t be as dramatic.

“Did I
scare you?” he delicately asked when he reached her. He stopped in front of her and remained on the curb. The elevated height of the curb made him appear taller than usual, especially with her peering up at him from the pavement of the street.

“No, no!” Yoori said
quickly, mustering up a smile.

Albeit t
hings were uncomfortable, she didn’t want it to be obvious that she felt awkward. Regardless of all that had transpired, she still had a soft spot for Ji Hoon. The only deterrent to seeing him was that she was instantaneously reminded of Tae Hyun. She was also reminded of the last, painful words she said to Tae Hyun before she ran out on him. Her heart started to clench, and Yoori quickly shoved those thoughts out of her mind. She continued to focus on Ji Hoon, hell-bent on not thinking about Tae Hyun. He was out of her life, and she was going to keep it that way.

“I just d
idn’t expect to run into anyone,” she finished quietly. Her eyes strayed to the lavish restaurant behind him. “You just had dinner?”

“Yeah. The company was dismal
, but the food was good,” he replied with a gentle smile that indicated to Yoori he was walking on eggshells around her. It was evident that he hadn’t forgotten how they had left things off either. Yoori was actually surprised that he even cared enough to talk to her. She thought they were done when she chose Tae Hyun over him that night.

His eyes wandered over
the to-go box in her grasp. “What are you having for dinner?”

“Just a burger and fries,” Yoori said
with a shrug. She swallowed past her apprehension and wondered if she should excuse herself or stay and chitchat with him. Persuaded by the genuine happiness that arose in his eyes when she spoke to him, Yoori decided to further the conversation with what she thought would be a nice icebreaker. “So, you’re always dressed up in business clothes whenever I see you. Is that your standard uniform?”

Ji Hoon’s smile grew wider. He was relieved that she was being conversational. “I have meetings left and right. Someone of my position has
to look like he can take on important jobs. Dressing for the part is an everyday occurrence.” He shrugged carelessly. “I’ve been wearing business clothes for as long as I can remember; it’s like a second skin to me.”

Yoori nodded, not knowing what else to say after that.
After a pause, she asked, “How have you been?”

“Pretty shi
tty since the last time I saw you.”

H
ere comes the awkwardness
, Yoori thought morosely.

She
should have expected that men like Ji Hoon and Tae Hyun would always get right to the point. Both were similar in that respect.

“It’s never too heartwarming when the girl you have
your eyes on chooses another guy.”

Yoori’s heart ached after hearing the comment. It
ached for Ji Hoon, but it ached for Tae Hyun even more. She hated that she couldn’t stop thinking about him and that she felt guilty for lying to him (even though he was the one who lied to her and hurt her first).

“
You just had a meeting then?” Yoori asked, changing the subject to save herself from being thrown into another state of misery.

His features hardened at her obvious
ploy to change the topic. Regardless of the reaction, he answered her question nonetheless. “I just had dinner with the Advisors.” There was a short pause before he carelessly added, “And Tae Hyun.”

Yoori’s eyes
rounded. “Tae
. . .
Tae Hyun?”

She was
flabbergasted. It didn’t take her long to deduce how awful it would be for Tae Hyun to see her with Ji Hoon, especially after the lie she had told him. She wanted to hurt Tae Hyun so he would stay away from her—she didn’t want to devastate him by having him see her with Ji Hoon.

But i
t was too late.

Before she could
attempt to excuse herself, she heard someone bid goodbye to a patron. She knew instantly it was the person she wanted to avoid seeing and the one person, as much as she hated to admit it, she missed the most.

“Have a good night, sir.”

Yoori saw him when she averted her gaze to the doors leading out of the restaurant. Dressed in light gray pants, a white buttoned up shirt, and a loosened gray tie around his neck, Kwon Tae Hyun emanated nothing but male wonder as he gave a nod of goodbye to the hostess who was clearly smitten with him.

There were men who had faces of innocent angels and then there were men who had the faces of fallen archangels. Tae Hyun was one of those men in life that looked too good to be true. He was beautiful in the most sinful of ways and he made no apologies for it. From his beautiful short black hair to his smooth skin, enticing lips, and perfectly crafted face, he looked like he was born to be adored and worshipped. He was a walking poster of perfection and there were few who would ever combat that statement.

Tae Hyun moved away from the restaurant and turned in the direction she and Ji Hoon were in.

Yoori could hear soft
murmuring from the group of girls in the background. Adoration embellished their voices as they whispered about how good-looking and sexy he was. A pang of jealousy spiked within her. When they did that with Ji Hoon, she couldn’t care less; when they did that to Tae Hyun, she felt the unbearable need to smack them upside the head. Tae Hyun had always driven her crazy. It irritated her that he drove other girls crazy too, and it irritated her even more that he had his choice of girls to pursue. It only reminded her that she was nothing special to him, and that he would always be someone special to her.

And then, just like that, the
three-week time period of not seeing each other diminished when her eyes locked with his. The agony, the betrayal, the sadness, the yearning, the heartache
. . .
all the emotions that had been numbed since she last saw him surged through her. She swallowed past her pain and tried to keep a cool exterior. The eye contact was only broken when Tae Hyun flickered his gaze from her to Ji Hoon.

Yoori knew it was
horrible that she was standing there with Ji Hoon.

She couldn’t read Tae Hyun’s eyes
, but when he quickened his pace toward them, her muscles tensed up. Would he pull her away from Ji Hoon and take her with him? If he did that, what would she do? Yoori wanted to believe that she was strong enough to refuse him. Yet, as she felt her body yearn for him, Yoori was no longer sure how strong she was.

He came closer
. . .
and closer
. . .
and closer
. . .

His cologne inundated her senses
after he walked off the curb. When he was merely a breath away from her, Yoori was certain he would pull her with him. She was thrown off when he simply moved into the tight space between the Mercedes and the Jaguar car ahead of it. He dodged around her as if she were invisible and continued on. Yoori took in a sharp breath when she concluded that he wasn’t even walking toward her. His only goal was to get to his car—his brand new Jaguar XF-R.

Yoori
was stupefied that he didn’t even acknowledge her existence. She watched bewilderingly, unknowingly stepping back onto the sidewalk with Ji Hoon. He had pulled her closer to him just as Tae Hyun pulled his car door open. Tae Hyun still wasn’t looking at her. The King of Serpents was primed to get into his car when he noticed the group of girls who were more than eating him up with their eyes.

“Have a good night,” h
e whispered cordially to them, acknowledging their existence and not hers.

A
wave of sighs fell from the girls’ lips after he got into his car. The engine started and Yoori watched him expectantly, a part of her hoping against hope that he would take one glance at her before he drove off.

Just one look
, she pleaded the fates in her mind.
Just look at me once
. . .