The Fall of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 2) (13 page)

Kang Min raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. He took a moment to stare at the railing of the shopping cart before returning his gaze to Yoori.
 

“Do you see how fucked up we are, Yoori? When Hae Jin and I are together, there’s so much shit in our way because it has to be a secret that we’re in a relationship. And it wasn’t only because we had to keep it a secret. There were just too many obstacles. They kept appearing and wouldn’t stop. When it gets too hard, we leave each other, get wasted and sleep with the first scumbag or ho that comes near us. Then the next morning, we get back together. It’s a fucked up cycle that seems never-ending.”
 Kang Min laughed dryly to himself. “And you know what else is funny? The fact that I 
know
 this relationship isn’t going to work out but I keep hanging onto it because I can’t let her go. I – ”

He exhaled depressingly, realizing an inexplicable truth that he couldn’t escape from. “I’m in a doomed relationship with Kwon Hae Jin. That’s where I am. That’s why we’re ‘on-and-off,’ because we both know that we’re never going to end up together. I’m one of the sub-leaders of a
gang
for fuck’s sake. It’s almost guaranteed that I’ll die before I reach my 19
th
 birthday. I – I don’t know why I bother to torture myself with this.” 

“You’re in a doomed relationship if you give up. So it’s all the same,” Yoori said bluntly, her eyes scrutinizing Kang Min.

Kang Min gaped at Yoori, thunderstruck by her words. “What?”

She folded her arms and stared at Kang Min unsympathetically. The sternness in her voice remained. “I said that you’re in a doomed relationship all the same if you’re with her or not. Make the most of everything now. Be ‘on’ with her and be happy. The ending will come when
it comes. If you die, you die. You can’t help what happens in the future. In the meantime, steal borrowed time and be happy with her. Why not, right? Like you said, you’re in a doomed relationship. You’ll end up with the same outcome no matter which path you choose, but at least you’ll be able to give yourself some happiness before you reach the end.”

“Wouldn’t the ending hurt more if I allowed myself to fall even harder for her?” Kang Min asked, absorbing what she was saying.
 

“Wouldn’t the ending hurt more if you realized that you purposely gave up? The world can fuck you over and you’d be fine with it, but the ending would be worse if you realized that
 
you
 were the one who fucked yourself over.” 

Kang Min blinked dubiously at her. A stagnant silence hung over them before Kang Min parted his lips and said in amazement, “That crock of shit actually makes sense.”

Though she was glad that she got through to him, Yoori frowned at Kang Min’s atypical compliment. 

“I think there’s a stronger effect because you’re wearing glasses today,” Kang Min observed distractedly. He assessed her glasses. “I didn’t realize you had bad vision.”
 

“I don’t,” Yoori answered at once, adjusting her glasses. “These lenses are clear.”
 

Kang Min blinked dubiously again. “You’re weird,” he stated before also adding, “And you cuss a lot.”

Yoori bounced her head sagely. “Guys listen more when you cuss.”

In response to Yoori’s pearls of wisdom, Kang Min was about to say something else when his Blackberry alarm went off.
 Breaking from his train of thoughts, Kang Min took out his Blackberry and turned off the alarm. 

“Okay, I gotta head over to Hae Jin’s to help make dinner,” he announced, placing the Blackberry back in his pocket. He looked at her. “You’ll be fine alone for a little bit, right?”
 

Yoori smiled. “Yeah, of course! Go have fun making dinner,” she urged, elated that Kang Min seemed to be feeling better. “
Give Hae Jin my greeting and make sure to keep that ‘crock of shit’ in the back of your mind.” 

“I will,” Kang Min said after a laugh. “Thanks for listening. I never thought I’d come out being so enlightened.”
 

“It’s the glasses,” Yoori supplied with an approving nod. “Now hurry up and go. Don’t keep her waiting.”
 

“I’ll see you later,” he said, taking his hands off the shopping cart. He started to walk off before he stopped in his tracks. He whipped around to face her. “And Yoori?”
 

“Hmm?”
 

“For what it’s worth…I trust Tae Hyun too.”
 

Yoori stilled and Kang Min addressed her confusion. “I wasn’t sure that night. But that was before I saw how awkward he was at the apartment.”
 

Now Yoori was
 more perplexed. “What does that have to do with anything?” 

Kang Min shrugged, clearly not wanting to get into any specifics. “I guess it’s a guy thing. You might want to share that crock of shit with Tae Hyun. I think he needs to be enlightened too.” He shrugged again before venturing out of the aisle. “Just a thought. Anyway, see you later, Yoori.”

Seconds later, Yoori was left alone in the deserted aisle. Her mind reeled.  Yoori didn't know how long she stood there, lost in a stupor while she pondered what Kang Min said.

Was Kang Min insinuating that Tae Hyun was going through the same internal conflicts as him? The only difference being that the girl on Tae Hyun’s mind was –

All of a sudden, like a cat being spooked at night, a rush of uneasiness surged through Yoori, causing her to instinctively whip her head to the side. Her eyes landed on the gap between the shelves that gave view to the other aisle beside her. She focused her gaze on a particular spot where she was positive she felt a pair of eyes stare at her. Yoori was spooked to find that there was nothing there, just a view of the coffee beans on the other aisle. 

Huh
… she thought uneasily, her breathing growing shallow. She surveyed the aisle around her. Was it her imagination? After staring at the vacant aisle around her for a couple more seconds, Yoori shook her head at her active imagination. Being in the Underworld for too long made her paranoid.

Yoori was in the process of dismissing her uneasiness as nothing when she felt her gut churn in worry –
 again. At the call of her second wave of instincts, an alerted Yoori twisted her neck to the side, expecting to see someone standing behind her. She was greeted with an empty aisle that had a view of other customers shopping in the far distance. Though she couldn’t see anyone near her at her vantage point, the worry in her gut told Yoori otherwise. 

A swarm of chills crawled up her body. Her heart thumped in worry. She was really starting to freak out.
 It could be Jae Won who came back from taking his call, or Kang Min, or another nice customer, right?

Wanting desperately to rid herself of the uncertainty that plagued her, Yoori mentally nodded at her consoling theory. She forced a smile onto her face and concluded that she was indeed being paranoid. Yoori placed her hand on the railing of the shopping cart and began to push, ready to get out of this aisle.
 

Sounds of the distant thunder rumbling outside could be heard as she uneasily pushed her creaking shopping cart down the aisle.
 She shuddered from anxiety. The weather outside was definitely not helping her overexcited nerves. Despite her fears, she continued to mentally console herself.
It’s okay. It’s just your imagination. It’s just your –  

Before she was able to stop it, Yoori twisted herself backward to finally catch sight of whatever was behind her. After so many false alarms, Yoori was almost sure that she would end up seeing nothing.
 

The blooming fear in her eyes told a different story.
 

It happened for a split second when she turned, but Yoori was sure that she saw a
 jet of black hair disappear behind the further end of the aisle beside hers. 

OHHHH
 SHIT!
Yoori thought fearfully, sounds of the roaring thunder somehow taking possession of her heart. She pulled her non-prescribed glasses down for a second to observe the area again. 

There was nothing there.
 

The aisle was as she saw it seconds prior: completely void of anyone else. The only difference now was that she knew better. That jet of black hair wasn’t a figment of her imagination. Some might argue that
it was since she was wearing glasses, but what she saw wasn’t her eyes playing tricks on her. The lenses of her non-prescribed, stylish glasses were clear for goodness sake! 

Lifting her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose, Yoori began to shake when she detected the
 anticipatory breathing of another. Surely this wasn’t another figment of her imagination – Yoori knew that much. 

Shit,
she thought worryingly, retreating backward.

Her eyes were fully fixated on the area in which she saw the jet of black hair disappear.
 

Where the hell were her bodyguards when she needed them?
 

Her pace quickened with each retreating step she took, her unblinking eyes firmly set on the aisle walkway ahead of her.
 Yoori felt the rate of her heartbeat escalate when she realized the breathing was somehow drawing closer to her.

Closer…
 

And closer…
 

And closer…
 

And finally…

“Yoo – Ahh!
”

“
Get the fuck away from me!” Yoori shouted, interrupting the flow of the stalker’s voice. Whipping around, she grabbed the assaulted Cheerios box out from her shopping cart. With unmatched strength, she slammed the Cheerios box against the stalker’s forehead. Not done with her assault, Yoori followed that attack with an unforgiving fist to the chest, a move that had the stalker yelping in pain. 

Sounds of a loud thud, coupled with the splattering of the Cheerios, could be heard as the stalker fell down with a scream that shook Yoori out of her defensive state.
 

Yoori's bewilderment escalated when she observed that the stalker, who was now twitching on the floor, looked much weaker than she originally assumed. Yoori gulped
anxiously. She kept her eyes trained on the stalker, whose long bangs fell forward to cover her face. All that Yoori could hear was a distinctive moan of pain. The sound of the voice shocked her. 

Her stalker was a girl?

“Boss!” A voice sprinted through the aisle, garnering Yoori’s attention. She took her eyes off the faceless stalker and watched as Jae Won ran toward her. He panted relentlessly after stopping beside her. 

“I heard you scream! Are you okay?” he panted, taking a moment to glance at the stalker, whose face was still covered by her bangs. “What the hell happened?” Jae Won asked distractedly, trying to get a good view of the girl’s face.
 

Yoori beamed proudly, happy that she was able to take care of herself without Jae Won’s help. “That stalker was following me and was getting ready to attack me. Luckily, I was able to – ”
 

“
Honey
?”
 Jae Won squeaked, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets once he recognized the stalker’s face. A look of panic flooded over his countenance. He hastily ran past Yoori to help the “stalker” up. Sounds of the “stalker” rubbing her chest and heaving for air could be heard as Yoori stood there, baffled. 

“Honey?” Yoori parroted.
  The confusion within Yoori intensified when she turned to see Jae Won helping the stalker girl up. 

A
stonishment slammed into Yoori after the full features of the girl’s face were revealed. 

“Damn it, Yoori! I haven’t seen you in forever and the first thing you do is fucking attack me
?!”

A mixture of bewilderment and recognition cascaded over Yoori’s shocked face. Almost disbelieving
ly, she said, “Chae Young?”

“For every lie. . .there is a truth.”

07: Denial

“Chae Young? Oh my God, Chae Young?” Yoori squeaked out.

She squinted her frantic eyes to make sure it was actually her friend.

Lee Chae Young was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans with white sneakers and a white jacket that had remnants of Cheerios stuck to it. Yoori knew the impossibly terrible had occurred: she assaulted her best friend. 

Feeling every ounce of regret a human could bear, Yoori ran over to the Cheerios infested tiles where her friend stood. Chae Young heaved and coughed for air while Jae Won helped to flick the residual Cheerios off of her shoulder length hair.
 

“Chae Young, I’m so sorry!” Yoori cried when she reached her friend.

Chae Young moaned in pain. She rubbed a hand over her assaulted chest. Jae Won helped rub her back while he continued to gaze at her worriedly. 

Yoori went on, guilt clawing at her. “
I didn’t know it was you.”