PANDORA'S BOX
1:24 AM, SATURDAY

3RD PERSONS VIEW。

A fine early morning in Saturday it was, totally normal for a Mafia Boss to walk straight into a bar, declaring a gamble towards his fellow rival while betting his own life alongside a head bartender's. Yeah, Totally normal.

Keiko's left eye twitched, the annoyance in her growing as she felt like she was being toyed by everyone. "I'm not some fucking object that you could bet on and sell off! For fucks sake I'm a human being!" she yelled out, pulling up the gun from her side, aiming it towards Taeyong.

In an instant, Jisung grabbed onto his gun, the tip of it pointing directly at the girl. His trembling eyes met with Taeyong's serious ones, seeing as his Boss gave him a sign to drop his gun, he did. "She's not the enemy here, Jisung." he simply said and glanced at the girl.

"Drop that."

She scoffed, "And why should I?"

Taeyong ran his tongue over his bottom lips, leaning onto one side, "Can I talk to you? Alone."

Keiko squinted her eyes at him, a suspicious feeling from his short words. "No. If you want to tell me something, tell me now."

The latter rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Never mind." he spat, "The gamble will be held at NCT's own underground private bar – Neo Zone."

Keishin scrunched his nose, feeling a bit uneasy, "What's the catch again?"

Taeyong shrugged his shoulders, "If the Mikami's win, everything of me will be turned to you. That includes my whole life, my Mafia, money, existence, just everything." he then smirked, "But if you lose," he cocked his head towards the head bartender who glared at him in advance. "her everything will become ours."

Keiko scowled, her finger itching to pull the trigger, but it just seemed like she couldn't. She disliked him so much for treating her like an object to bet on, and yet she couldn't even bring herself to shoot him.

But what happens next if she did gain the courage to shoot him? She could probably be hunted down by several members of his own Mafia. More trouble would come in her way. As much as she hated her decision, she ended up retracting her hand away; the gun being pulled down.

Keiko rolled her eyes, I'll shoot you next time.

"Good girl." Taeyong quipped, a smirk creeping up the corner of his lips as he approached Keishin with a smug look.

"You'll lose again." he spat, "Watch me."

Keishin held his chin up, not wanting to swallow up his pride, "I'm not going to back down. Not to a rival." he stated before turning his back and leaving.

Keiko bit her bottom lip, thoughts running wild in her mind as she watched her actual Father exit her bar. Was her Father really just doing this because he didn't want to lose to a fellow rival? That's it? That's his excuse to see his daughter?

She shook her head and stared at the gun. Why didn't I just shoot him? By then, the whole game could've been over, yet the possibility of his Mafia members running after her seemed more annoying.

Hansuke gulped and walked towards her, wanting to explain but no actual words came out of his mouth. He wasn't really the best during the past years of taking care of her – if you could even name it as 'taking care'. He absolutely did a horrible job; always leaving her alone, letting her figure out things by her self, not actually explaining anything. However, this created a new side of Keiko, the Keiko everyone faced today.

The independent, stubborn, shameless, bold girl that they have come across. It was all thanks to everyone who decided to leave her alone. She taught how to cope with it and eventually got over it. Nothing could ever bother her now, at least.

"Cherrie–"

"Don't call me that. Only Ojiisan can." she hissed, looking away from her uncle.

"Look, I'm sorry..." but the girl wasn't buying it.

"You work for him?" she questioned, pointing towards Taeyong who seemed to have already won everything by the looks of his expression.

Hansuke took a deep breath before nodding, "Yes– he is the Mafia Boss I'm associates with."

Keiko felt her world crashing slowly, was she really going to lose her life just like this again? She couldn't help but see the fifteen-year-old helpless Keiko as she walked away from her old life, seeming to have entered a new one. Now, the same thing was happening again.

If her family loses, everything of her will belong to the Mafia. Taeyong's Mafia. Does she want that? Definitely not. She most certainly didn't want to see those annoying, arrogant faces everyday. But if Taeyong happen to lose, will she become a Mikami again? Does she want to be a Mikami again?

No. She never even wished to become a Mikami.

Her old life in which she did nothing but study business, and she did, all she did was to work and work – trying to impress them with something, at least something that would earn their attention, but to no luck, they just sold her away.

"I can't believe this..." she chuckled bitterly, ready to face the fact that she would be losing her own control of her life for the second time.

Jisung stared at her sadly, it wasn't everyday he encountered someone with a horrid past. The thought of his own life being sold off scared him, he loved his parents so much and he couldn't just let that happen. But it was different for Keiko.

"Keiko..." he tried to call her, but his attempts on doing so ended up being small whispers of nothing.

Hansuke sighed, knowing that there was no point in convincing her anymore, she was practically torn apart again. "I'll... let you talk with Mr. Lee for awhile." he stated before walking off.

Keiko stifled a laugh, watching as her uncle slowly left her with the Mafia. At the end of the day, she seemed to have lost her life to the Mafia.

"Are you done now?" Keiko eyed him coldly, "Are you happy that you're ruining my life?"

"I'm no—"

"Even if you say you aren't, you are." she cuts him off, "Look, I swear to God, don't you even lay a fucking finger on me if you happen to win."

Taeyong arched a brow in amusement, "So you're accepting the fact that your family's going to lose?"

"Family? They didn't even treat me like family." she bitterly laughed.

The pink-haired young man in front of her nodded in acknowledgment, "We won't touch you. You can have control over your life, but to some extent."

"I'm trying to help you, you know." he implied to which she scoffed at.

"Help? Where?"

"Getting revenge on your family, for selling you off. Your life would be better off with us, we'll treat you as a family better than they do."

Keiko sneered, "Like that would persuade me to give in."

A deep chuckle left his lips as he walked towards her, grabbing her by the back of her head as he pulled her close, her body jerking forward, her stomach in contact with the bar counter.

"What the fu—"

"I'll let you be the cherry on top, Keiko."

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