$ s e v e n t y t h r e e $

Junmyeon made a phone call to Leeteuk that very same day, arranging for the leader of the Serpents to meet with Jiyeon. He agreed, as he had a high esteem for Junmyeon, knowing that he was someone who could be trusted. He also knew that Junmyeon was running the biggest and most powerful gang in Korea, and being on good terms was preferable. But it really wasn't a problem for him. He understood how things worked. At one point, he and the Serpents had been the ones running the show. They had taken Jinki and his boys in as apprentices and eventually the Jackals were the most powerful. Now it was the Wolves running most of the territories while the Serpents stayed on the down low.

It was the way of the world. It had once been Leeteuk's time, then Onew's, now it was Suho's time. 

Jiyeon was dropped off by Jongin at the entrance of the Serpents' property and there were guards at the front who were already expecting them. Since they knew Jongin was part of the pack and had been sent by Junmyeon, they allowed the two into the mansion without a problem. They first asked him to leave behind any weapons with them, and he complied easily. 

He parked the car by the entrance of the car where they were once again checked and cleared for security reasons. Outside was a magnificent fountain at a small roundabout by the entrance where there was a giant serpent adorning it. Jiyeon eyed it in awe at the life that these people had. So much money, but they did terrible things to attain it. And even so, she thought about what Miran always mentioned to her and the other girls--just because they do bad things doesn't mean they're bad guys. She knew for a fact that Jongin was good. There was good in him.

She couldn't imagine him even hurting a fly, let alone killing anyone. Yet she had seen him wielding a gun and it was like he was an entirely different person. All of them, her other brothers too. She could only describe it as it being two personalities. The sweet boy she loved and married was Jongin, and the boy who could fight and protect the family was Kai. Just like there was a difference between Light and Baekhyun, Suho and Junmyeon, Baram and Sehun. The same people, but at the same time different.

They walked up to the front door where they were instantly greeted by an older man, seemingly in his thirties, handsome, and dressed with an expensive suit. Jiyeon could already see behind him into the house when she heard the laughter of children playing. There were also a group of other adults sitting in the living room, having a few drinks. 

"Kai," The man Jiyeon assumed was Leeteuk greeted with a smile. "Suho mentioned you were coming to see us." Looking to Jiyeon next, he greeted her. "You must be Blitz. Suho said you had a proposition for us that involves a safer option for the children of our pack."

Jiyeon gave a nod of her head.

"Hello, hyung." Jongin greeted with a bow of his head. "I hope you have been well."

Leeteuk nodded and gestured for them to follow him. "I have. We get by with the small negotiations we do with your pack and Onew's. But come in, I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you. Its been a while."

The two followed him into the house where they were greeted by the rest of the serpents. Leeteuk and Jongin introduced each of them to Jiyeon, and they greeted her with smiles and hand shakes. Their gang currently consisted of ten people--Leeteuk, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Heechul, Yesung, Siwon, Donghae, and Sungmin--and Jongin had mentioned that they had once been thirteen. Two of their members had left their pack, opting for a calm and regular life. The other, Kangin, had perished on a mission, for which the other members blamed themselves, especially Leeteuk. 

They had lost a lot of money on that mission, but also a beloved friend, and it was what triggered their decision to law low from then on. They didn't want to lose another friend.

They invited the young couple to sit with them in the living room and have a few drinks while they talked. Jongin sat down comfortably like they were old friends, and they really were. When he was younger, he and Taemin had been best friends. Taemin had been recruited by the Jackals very young because of his father's connections to other gangs. The Jackals in their initial days had been a subdivision of the Serpents. A younger group that they recruited as back up, much like Junmyeon had done with the younger pack. Due to that, Jongin had known the Serpents, the Jackals and Junmyeon since he was very young. He admired them and truly considered them like his older brothers.

"What have you come to offer us?" Leeteuk asked them, getting straight to the point.

Jiyeon looked down at her hands and started to stutter. She was not yet used to the world of gangs yet. It was all so intimidating to her. When she could not gather her thoughts properly, Jongin took her hand in his and gave it a light squeeze. He then made the offer for her. "My wife is a teacher by profession and though she has entered this life with me, she wants to continue teaching. Its her passion. We know your pack has children. She can come here every day and home school them, so they won't be in danger by going to school."

They saw nods of approval from the other members, but Jiyeon saw the hesitance in their leader. Leeteuk made a face, voicing out his only concern. "The problem with that is we cannot afford to pay for a private tutor for the children. We still make good money, but our pack is big. We need every cent that we make, and some of our women have even gotten day jobs to help support us since the men are wanted by the police. I just don't know if we could afford it."

A frown formed on Jongin's face when he heard Leeteuk's words. He knew how excited Jiyeon had been to teach again and the opportunity was seemingly slipping out of her hands.

But she thought quickly and informed them, "Suho mentioned that you all were short on money, and he promised to give me a bi-weekly stipend for supplies and everything I will need. He wants to help me, and he wants to help you too. You won't need to pay me a single cent."

At that, Leeteuk smiled warmly. He knew that Junmyeon had always been like that. Despite being the leader of the biggest and most powerful gang in Korea, he was always for the idea of helping others out. He could not decline or argue with something like that. "I suppose that we can accept the help. We always worry that something could happen to the children when we send them off to school."

Jiyeon beamed with a bright smile. She was so excited that she jumped out of her seat and went to hug the Serpents' leader, throwing her arms around him and taking him by surprise. The other members of the Serpents had been taken off guard as well, and some even drew out their guns to protect the leader out of instinct. But Jongin shot them a look, begging them to stand down. "Thank you so much for this opportunity. I promise I won't let you down." Jiyeon gushed to the Serpent leader happily. She had already made a mental note to thank Junmyeon later for making that meeting possible.

Leeteuk chuckled. "Yeah, not a problem. You can come by starting tomorrow if you'd like."

She pulled away from him and hurried to Jongin's side next. He was already standing and she ran into his arms. 

Now she felt like she had a purpose in the pack.

-

a very filler chapter for you all. but i felt like it was needed. 

the next chapter im going to try to feature the characters who haven't really appeared lately--like suho and hani, yixing and silver, chan and hella. i feel like this story was starting to be all about miran and baek. but baek is by bias and i love him so i cant help it.

thank you all for reading. i hope you all enjoy this new update. tomorrow i start school again, but i will try to update as often as i used to.

-clary