PRESENT

BANG CHAN : 20 YEARS OLD

SONG NAYOUNG : 19 YEARS OLD

Seoul's winters were just as harsh as our blazing summers, and even my thick, white, fluffy winter coat couldn't do much to guard me against the bitter cold.

As Bitna pushed open the door, a small ding of the bell indicated our arrival to the store.

Father had booked the most expensive, most luxurious and best bridal store for the occassion of choosing my dress. He wanted only the finest and was determined that all three, the press, Seoul and Daegu would be in awe of the union between our families.

"Welcome, Miss Song," An attendant greeted us with a bow, smiling politely. "My belated birthday wishes, it was last week was it not?"

I forced a smile. My nineteenth birthday had only been a reminder of the fact that very soon, I would become a wife, the wife to the Capo of Daegu, that I would be leaving my siblings and everything that I had ever known behind, all for the sake of peace and money.

Despite the brooding misery of it, I had tried to enjoy it as much as I could. We had gone to a new restaurant that had opened only recently, and I had been showered with gifts that most people wouldn't be able to afford. But above all of that, I was glad that my siblings were beside me, one last time.

"Yes, it was wonderful, thank you,"

"And there are only a few more months until your wedding?" The attendant piped up again, earning a nod from my Mother.

Only a few more months until my golden cage would relocate to Daegu, where I would be far from my siblings and close to the monsters that lived there.

The attendant seemed to be the only one who was even remotely excited about my wedding. But then again, there would be a lot of cash landing in her pockets today. A union between the Seoul and Daegu mafia families was an immense affair, and money was irrelevant.

We were led to the fitting room, following her closely behind whilst Manseok and another man with the responsibility of guarding us, waited in the main reception.

Mother, Bitna and Chaewon took their seats on the plush white sofa, Chaewon admiring the gorgeous gowns on display, whilst Bitna's lips thinned. 

"Do you know what kind of dress you see yourself in? What is to your taste?" The attendant asked, entering into her element.

"Something that's not too revealing," I paused, my eyes flitting around the room until I spotted the most expensive dress in the collection.

My fingers glided over the soft material, the carefully embroidered sleeves and the neckline which practically disappeared into the mannequin. Floral applique and sparkles covered the more sheer areas of it, and the train was large.

"It's mostly hand-stitched and embroidered by the best dressmakers," The attendant spoke, obviously pleased at my choice. "Your fiance will faint at the sight of you!"

I stopped myself from scoffing. 

Bang Chan would never faint at the sight of me in a wedding dress. He didn't want this wedding either, but duty bound us to each other.

...

SIX MONTHS LATER

My wedding day was in less than two days and every inch of me wasn't prepared to become the wife of the monster of Daegu.

The ceremony was to take place in the mansion that belonged to the Bang family in one of the most luxurious areas of the city. Mother had been fretting with the event planner, making sure that everything was going to plan, whilst I hadn't even seen where I would be getting married.

My family were staying the Mariott hotel, having booked the Presidential Suite for ourselves. I had convinced Mother to let me, Bitna and Chaewon share a room together, Junseo would be with one of our male cousins and she and Father would have their own room.

"What will we be doing at the bridal shower tomorrow?" Chaewon asked, crossing her legs neatly on the chaise lounge.

She had turned sixteen a few months ago, and there were already rumours of who she could possibly marry. Mother had said that if it wasn't for our world, she would have been picked up by multiple agencies to be either a model, actress or K-pop idol, with her charming, delicate features.

Yet, what scared me was the fact that Chaewon knew her body resulted in many people doing what she wanted them to do. Lots of the young soldiers, and even the older ones were mesmerised by her, and whilst she flirted with a few of them for pure amusement, there were some who would take it the other way.

"Probably opening presents and chatting," Bitna was the one who responded, her eyes on her phone.

I didn't have to be so concerned with her. She was eighteen yet made no sign of being interested in getting married to anyone, which was relatively unusual in our world. At the most, we would have been engaged by sixteen, but it seemed that Father was taking his time, most likely due to the fact that not many men would be so patient with Bitna's volatile personality. I didn't mind. As long as she was happy and safe.

Suddenly, a knock at the door drew our attention away from the idle chat of the bridal shower.

Chaewon leapt up from her seat and opened it, revealing the visitors.

"Hi Chan," She smiled sweetly, an attempt at flirting at the older, her eyes darting between the other men that she didn't know.

The Capo stared down at her. "You're Chaewon, the youngest,"

"I'm sixteen," She drew out. "I'm not that young,"

"Chaewon," I had taken a stand, not wanting my fiance too close to her. "Come here,"

She rolled her eyes at me but moved out of the way, eyeing the others besides him with obvious interest. 

"Will you let me in?" Chan looked at me, his eyes dropping slightly to my lips before returning to my own.

"It's not proper for us to meet like this, without a chaperone," I tried to hide the nerve in my voice. "None of us here are married,"

"But we will be in less than two days," It seemed that Chan didn't really care much about what I said as he invited himself inside. "But if it makes you any less uncomfortable," He turned to the boy on his left, who didn't look much older than Chaewon. "Jeongin, get their bodyguard, Manseok, tell him to stand by the door whilst we have a chat,"

Jeongin nodded before disappearing from the room, leaving Chan, Minho and Hyunjin in our suite, all of us looking at each other with both curiosity and a sense of distrust.

I couldn't blame them. Seoul and Daegu had been at war for years, and soon, in two days, all of that would be coming to a close.

Minho made his way towards Bitna who gave him a glare with such contempt that it would make anyone look away. Not Minho of course. Chaewon hadn't given up.

"Do you have your guns with you?" She was next to Bitna, the latter having returned to her phone, the former interested by the Consigliere.

Minho grinned, and for a minute, it reminded me of a cunning cat, waiting to lure in its prey. Just as he reached for his weapon, my voice shot out. "You won't show her your gun,"

If he had been surprised at the firmness in my voice, then it didn't show on his face. Instead, Minho kept grinning, but didn't pull out his firearm.

Chan watched me with the same intensity that he watched his surroundings with, and I tried not to look at him. But our attention was diverted elsewhere as Manseok had come with Jeongin looking bored.

"What's the meaning of this?" The older man glared at the boys from Daegu. "The girls aren't supposed to be alone with you,"

"You should have been there to keep a watch," Bang Chan replied just as coldly. 

"I needed the bathroom, alright," Manseok huffed. "Your boy dragged me out,"

I glanced at Jeongin who gave no sign to acknowledge that he had done what Manseok had said. Despite his young appearence, I knew this boy was just as merciless as the others, and he would not be afraid to assert his strength when needed.

It seemed that Chaewon had moved from Minho and was now focused on the younger boy, my sister looking him up and down with the motive to get a rise out of him.

"I need a word with Nayoung," Chan glanced at our bodyguard. "Minho, Hyunjin and Jeongin will stay with you to keep guard,"

He took a stand and left the room as I followed wordlessly behind.

We stood in the coridoor, and I thanked the fact that it was empty. The window ran from floor to ceiling, showing Daegu's majestic citylife.

"Once you move into my mansion after the wedding, Changbin will be your main bodyguard. He isn't here at the minute because he has some business to take care of,"

I frowned. Business normally meant torturing or killing in our world, and suddenly, I did not want to know how many my fiance had sent to death's embrace.

"For now, Jeongin will guard you, with Manseok as your secondary,"

I shook my head. "Manseok's been guarding my sisters and I for a long time. And besides, Jeongin is young, will he really be able to protect all three of us until the wedding?"

Chan straightened, his dark eyes boring into mine. "Jeongin is a Made Man, a killer, you really think that if he wasn't capable, I would be letting him guard you?"

That made sense, but another thing bothered me. "What about Chaewon? You saw the looks she was giving him. My sister will do anything to get a rise out of him, how can I be sure that he won't do anything to her?"

"I give you my word that your sister will be safe, and that Jeongin will not touch her," Chan placed a hand over his heart. "Besides, he isn't interested in little girls,"

"They're the same age,"

Chan said nothing as he scanned me one more time. "Another thing, I presume you're on the pill?"

I nodded, my mouth dry. Mother had got me to begin taking it a few weeks ago. The horrid reminder of the fact that we were supposed to consummate our marriage in just two days had returned to my mind once more.

"Then that is all,"

We returned to the suite, where it seemed that Minho and Bitna had began to argue, Hyunjin watching them with a lazy smile as Manseok attempted to stop them.

"What are you looking at?" She challenged, eyes blazing with fury.

"Your hot body," The cat replied just as fast.

"That's all you're going to be able to do with my hot body," She snapped.

"Oh really?" Minho smirked.

"Enough," Manseok wouldn't fight Minho, but his responsibility was to keep my sisters and I safe.

"Yes, enough," Chan repeated. "It's time to go, Jeongin, you stay here and guard the girls,"

"I can guard them," Manseok glared at the Capo. "He's still a kid, and he can't keep an eye on all of them,"

"Neither can you, it seems." Hyunjin spoke, his eyes accusing.

Our bodyguard did not look happy with the arrangements but instead of voicing his opinion out loud, took his guard outside the door as the Daegu entourage left, shutting the door firmly behind them.

Jeongin settled into one of the couches, his fox eyes scanning the room and us before relaxing his body slightly.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to shoot you," Bitna rolled her eyes. "But then again, you'd probably shoot us first before we could even load the gun,"

"You wouldn't shoot me," It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He was right.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Sixteen. Turning seventeen in two months,"

So he was just older than Chaewon, who seemed to be quite pleased with this newfound information, making her way towards the chair and perching herself on its armrest. The stiffness in the boy had returned as her fingers trailed to his gun holster.

"Chaewon, you can't do that!" I pulled her off the chair, as she shot me a look. "No, don't look at me like that, men will hurt you if you do those kind of things,"

"Jeongin wouldn't hurt me," My sister looked at the boy on the chair, as though trying to determine whether he would shoot her. "Chan's put him here for our safety, he wouldn't hurt me, right?"

"No, but he might steal your virtue and run off!" Bitna laughed at Chaewon's widened eyes. Sometimes I forgot how innocent our youngest sister actually was.

"I won't do that," Jeongin tried to reassure Chaewon, who gave him a soft smile.

"This isn't gonna work," Bitna muttered. "Chae, go to bed,"

It took a while for us to get Chaewon to retire for the night, and she was certainly not happy at being sent off with Jeongin in the room, but she obeyed.

"Please don't take what she does too seriously," I told Jeongin, who gave a small smile in return. "She's kind of oblivious to what she does to people,"

"It's fine, I wouldn't hurt her,"

"But you will hurt guys who would even risk a glance at Nayoung," Bitna retorted. "You'd kill them without batting an eye,"

"She's Chan's fiancée," Jeongin shrugged. "It's my duty to protect her,"

"But is the kill really necessary?"

The younger boy remained indifferent. "If Chan asked me to, then yes, I would. He and your Father won't risk your fall from grace,"

It was at that point I realised that my wedding would reflect on Bitna and Chaewon's future too. They were also subject to this marriage, even if it affected them in a way that they didn't quite understand.