Arashiyama, Kyoto

(01:07pm)

"How did you convince the guards to leave us alone?"

"I asked them," said Jin Yeong simply.

I sent him a skeptical look, making him sigh and give in.

"Alright, I ordered them to back off just for the rest of the afternoon," he admitted. "They'll be back by sun down. They didn't go too far. Just had some drinks, I assume."

My eyebrows raised in surprise. "They agreed?"

He grinned. "They didn't have a choice."

I've asked them to keep their distance so I wouldn't feel suffocated, but I never sent them totally away before. I understood that it was only a precaution, after all. But since I was with Jin Yeong, I guessed they thought it was safe to chill even for a little bit.

"You up for a bike ride?" asked Jin Yeong, nodding to the bike rental place.

Ooh, I never tried that before.

"Let's do it." I nodded, practically bouncing on our way there.

We were currently in Arashiyama. It was on the edge of Kyoto, far enough from the city that it felt like a province. There were trees everywhere, with barely any cars around. People were either walking or riding their bikes. The breeze was refreshing.

Near the station, there were a number of restaurants. But that was it. Maybe there was more on the other side of the river, where a couple of shrines and bamboo forest were.

Jin Yeong signed the forms, all the while talking to the staff in Japanese. I couldn't help but watch him converse in my native language. I was still staring at him even when we were already mounted on our respective bikes.

Nodding to me, he said, "Ikuzo." Let's go.

He was about to start pedaling but then he saw my amused face, and stopped.

"Nani?" What?

I laughed. "Anata wa kawaii." You're cute.

He scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "'Kawaii?!'" Cute?!

"Un." I nodded. "You're cute when you speak Nihongo."

He looked offended by being called cute, but in a playful way. Before he could snap a retort, I went ahead with my bike. I could hear him following from behind me.

"Hayaku, Jin Yeong-chan!" Hurry up, Jin Yeong-chan!

"Yuki!" he called after me in warning, making me laugh out loud.

We crossed over a small bridge over a pond. We were on our way to the bigger bridge, with our destination on the other side of the river where the tourist attractions were. But I instantly hit the breaks when I saw the flavored shaved ice poster on the side of the road.

I gasped and pointed it out to Jin Yeong, who nodded in agreement. And so, we parked our bikes under a nearby tree. After buying us each some flavored shaved ice, we sat at one of the benches beside the river. Neither of us spoke, just enjoying our cold desserts in peaceful silence.

My thoughts traveled to what happened yesterday. It definitely took away my anger, after knowing what he went through. In fact, I felt guilty, judging him without looking at things from his perspective. Right now, it was safe to say that we were back to normal.

But... I wanted to know more.

I wanted to see the connection between this Jin Yeong and that Jesam. I wanted to see how he switched from one to the other. I wanted to know how they became one.

"What have you been doing these past couple of years?" I asked him, after taking a scoop of this strawberry ice goodness in my mouth.

"I'm sure you already heard."

I shook my head, smacking my lips before licking them. "I only know of Jesam's reputation. I want to know what you have been doing. You once said that if you were forced into this life, you'd do things your way." I cleared my throat, imitating his voice. "'Different approach, same result.'"

The corner of his lips quirked. "I put an end to the protection tax in Busan."

My eyebrows raised in surprise. Protection taxes was the main source of income for every criminal organization. He was able to pull that off?

"I didn't want to force people into paying us." He leaned back on the bench and gazed at the river, looking so handsomely solemn. "It was hard, but the kkangpaes in the area eventually fell in line." He paused and took some blue shaved ice into his mouth, before adding, "No more loan sharks, too. That only led to unnecessary violence."

I turned to my dessert, thinking about what I heard about him. "So this is what they meant when they said Jesam's a 'black sheep.'"

Before, I thought it meant that he was worse than normal – worse than any of them. Turned out, it only meant he was doing things differently.

He chose to do things in his own way, like he said he would.

He shrugged. "Why force people to pay up when they can give it away willingly?"

My eyes narrowed as I tried to figure it out, but then it clicked.

"Gambling?" I guessed.

"Oh," he confirmed, nodding. "Hidden casinos here and there, but the gold mine's in online betting. It's a big thing now." He shrugged, adding, "Easy money, and no one has to die."

"That's where the loan sharks come in handy, don't they?"

"Nah. If the players don't have any money left, they can borrow from someone else. If they don't pay up on time, that'll be their problem. Not ours."

"The trading port is in Busan, isn't it?"

"What about it?"

I tilted my head, staring at him. "You handle that, too?"

He nodded. "Dealing with the shipments is the hardest part," he admitted in a tired voice, looking up at the sky. "Risky, too. I understand why Abeoji wants the alliance so bad."

I remained quiet, pondering and letting it all sink in.

"Without the violence on the innocents, it changed the way people saw us. They don't fear us anymore." With a small smile, he continued, "When there's trouble, they go to us to sort it out. Most of the time, the ones causing the ruckus are kkangpaes. We can control them better than the police, after all."

"You succeeded, then." I smiled, before returning my eyes on him. "And in just two years."

He chuckled. "Not without getting criticized by some people in the organization. But hey, as long as I bring in money, they can't do much."

"Of course," I muttered, looking at my empty paper cup. "I wish I could say I also achieved so much in just a few years."

"What do you call those charities and fund-raising events you pulled off? I'd say that's more than I could ever do."

I snorted. "Oh, please."

"Yuki," he said, his fingers gently touching my chin and making me look at him.

With the sunlight peeking through the leaves of the tree behind us, bits of the streaks were hitting his hair and face. He looked angelic and fresh, especially with his white shirt under that light blue polo rolled up on the sleeves.

His eyes made me feel like jello, like I was melting from his gaze. Funny, because there was nothing intense with the way he was looking at me. Instead, it was subtle. It was as if he was taking his time, memorizing every inch of my face and enjoying it.

"I only take, but you give. That's worth more."

"Isn't that perfect?" I teased. "We balance each other out."

A ghost of a smile appeared. "Does that mean you're not against the marriage anymore?"

I'm not against marrying you.

"I don't know," I said, pretending to think about it. "The groom doesn't seem too bad. Although, he made me do a bungee jump with him once."

Laughter danced in his eyes. "You can't hold that against him. He wanted you to experience new things."

"Even tteokbokki, which he claimed wasn't spicy?"

"You forced him to wear a hanbok. Doesn't that make you even?"

I started to grin. "I still have that picture."

"I saw."

"When did you –"

"Umjig ijima." Don't move.

Jin Yeong and I instantly froze at the new voice. It came from behind us.

I saw the tip of a gun being pointed on the back of his head. I was about to turn to look at the newcomer but then I felt something hard touch my back.

Crap, another gun?

"Give us your phones."

I glanced at Jin Yeong, and he nodded. He reached for mine and placed it together with his, before handing them to the robbers. As if in slow motion, I watched his hand loosen its grip and drop the phones on the ground.

When one of the robbers knelt down to pick them up, Jin Yeong took that chance to kick him hard. Before the masked man could recover, Jin Yeong grabbed his gun and hit him with it.

The other robber was about to come at Jin Yeong when I dropped and swung my leg to hit his, causing him to lose his balance and fall down. For the final blow, I kicked him in the face.

While they were unconscious, Jin Yeong tied them with their own shirts. We took the guns, in case more would come after us.

I looked around and noticed there was barely anyone around to have seen what happened. We were too far away from the crowd and everyone was busy going across the river.

"Fuck," muttered Jin Yeong, rubbing his face with a hand.

"Who do you think it is?" I asked.

There was no point in asking why.

He shook his head. "No idea."

We had enemies everywhere. In our kind of life, there would always be people who would benefit from our deaths. It was all about who.

I picked up our phones and handed him his. He didn't waste any time, and started making calls. Glancing at my phone, I sighed at the big crack on the screen. It wouldn't turn on, broken from the fall earlier.

"No one's answering," grumbled Jin Yeong, through gritted teeth.

I stared at him, alert. "Do you think the guards are down?"

"It's possible. They couldn't be too far away." The expression on his face was grave as he considered the probabilities. Then, he shook his head and grabbed my hand. "We can't stay here. Come on."

I didn't need to be told twice. We ran to our bikes as fast as we could. While we were riding back, Jin Yeong was still making calls. This time, someone answered.

"Hyung!" Big brother!

My eyes narrowed. No one from his men here answered his call, but instead it was his older brother he was able to contact? What did that mean?

Too deep in my own thoughts, I missed most of Jin Yeong's conversation.

"Oh, araseo. Gomwowo." Yes, I got it. Thank you.

He hung up and pocketed his phone. If possible, he looked even worse than before.

I was about to ask him what was going on when a black SUV pulled up right in front of us. Jin Yeong automatically put himself between me and the vehicle, all the while bracing himself by holding his gun behind him.

An unkempt Mikihito stepped out, looking panicked.

"Yuki! Daijobu?" Yuki! Are you alright?

He grabbed my shoulders and quickly scanned my body for injuries. The sight of him made my muscles relax, and I sighed in relief.

"Daijobu." I'm fine.

His shoulders slumped, as he closed his eyes and breathed out, "Yokatta." I'm glad.

"What are you doing here?" Jin Yeong asked him, watching my childhood friend with eyes like a hawk.

Mikihito shook his head. "No time to explain. It's not safe to stay out here." He gestured towards the SUV and motioned for us to get in.

Jin Yeong hesitated. But then, Mikihito snapped.

"Would you rather if we stay out in the open, leaving Yuki vulnerable?"

Jin Yeong's eyes traveled to me, and I saw the question in his eyes.

I nodded. "I trust him."

At that, Jin Yeong gave in.

"What happened?" demanded Mikihito, once we were all inside his car and moving. "One of the men sent a red signal and alerted everyone."

"We got attacked out of nowhere," I explained.

"Why weren't the guards with you?"

"Jin Yeong asked them to stay away so we could have a little breather." It sounded bad, so I added, "We needed it."

Mikihito glared at Jin Yeong, anyway. "That's convenient." To me, he added, "We're going to a safehouse in Hiroshima. All the clans are being informed of what happened, as we speak."

With that, he nodded towards his men at the front seat. I leaned back and nodded. We were safe now. There was nothing to be worried about at the moment.

But without realizing it, my eyes started to get blurry and my muscles began to feel droopy. I glanced at Mikihito and he was suddenly passed out beside me. I turned to Jin Yeong next, he looked like he was fighting it.

"What's..." I tried to ask, but couldn't get to finish my sentence.

"Don't... inhale..."

Too late.

_____________

We're veeeerrrryyy close to the end now.

Next update: Friday