The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3) (36 page)

“Damn it, Choi Yoori,” Tae Hyun complained from across the little coffee table they were sitting at. “I just bought you a big slice of red velvet cake. You can’t eat something this good and pout like you’re at a funeral.”

Yoori
, dressed in a black velour ensemble to fight against the winter cold, scowled at Tae Hyun’s incredibly blunt statement. She grudgingly watched him eat his beloved cake.

After parting ways with her brother the night
before, Yoori went back to Tae Hyun ashamed, traumatized, and not in the talking mood. After opening the door of the limo, where Tae Hyun and the brothers awaited her, she threw herself in. Yoori announced that she was tired and sought refuge on Tae Hyun’s lap by sleeping on it. Of course, she didn’t really sleep, but spent the time mulling over everything her brother had told her.

If it were any other situation where it was just her
self and Tae Hyun, Yoori would have already divulged in what happened with her brother. But due to the brothers’ presence and her adoration for them, Yoori was afraid to share the contents of what transpired that night in fear of the brothers changing their respectable opinions about her. Yoori was ashamed. She was ashamed of the heinous crime Soo Jin imparted to that poor mother and her two kids. She knew that the brothers grew up with Soo Jin, but she doubted they were ever present for something as immoral as killing two children. She didn’t want to wreck any respect they may harbor for her. In addition to her worry, she couldn’t forget the question her brother implanted into her mind.

“Just ask him, lil sis. Just ask him how his mother died
, and you’ll understand.”

Yoori
didn’t have the courage to question Tae Hyun on how his mother died because she was afraid of what she would find out. She didn’t want to understand. She was happy with Tae Hyun. She didn’t want to risk anything breaking them apart. If denial and avoidance were going to keep her with Tae Hyun longer, then she didn’t want to know the answer. In this case, ignorance was truly bliss for her.

It wasn’t until the next day, when they woke up and decided to go for
a winter afternoon jog, did Yoori share everything with Tae Hyun (except for that one ominous question). After she told him everything, Yoori found herself stuck in another wave of nausea and guilt. It was something that appeared to be a habitual routine for her as of late.

Sensing her journey into the land of
misery, Tae Hyun casually suggested that they quit jogging and stop by the local bakery to treat themselves with dessert instead. Yoori agreed and languidly sat at one of the bakery’s coffee tables while Tae Hyun ordered them two big slices of his favorite cake.

Yoori had just fini
shed telling him how Soo Jin tortured the mother and killed the two children when he placed her cake in front of her. She was sick to her stomach with guilt. She couldn’t even eat her cake, hence the reason why Tae Hyun was scolding her.

“Don’t tell me
what to do,” Yoori retorted.

She was
thankful that the bakery was intimate.  The tables were small, there was an aroma of warm pastries, and an abundance of shuffles of patrons’ feet. Her voice was drowned in the upbeat music and the  constant buzzing of the people around her. No one, other than Tae Hyun, could hear her.

With her legs crossed together over the wooden
chair, she added, “You buying me a cake doesn’t mean anything. I will frown as I wish.”

“Yeah well, it would be great if you could turn that frown upside down because we’re out in public right now and
. . .
” He looked around bashfully, shifting restlessly in his seat. He was dressed in a brown zip-up hoodie and black windbreaker pants. His hood was up, making him sinfully mysterious and handsome as he ate his cake. The deterrent to this enigmatic façade was the sight of him blushing from the condemning stares he received from the people around them. “And I think people think I’m abusing you or dumping you right now because you look so damn miserable. The Underworld already sees me as a heartless jackass; I don’t need the outside world to see me as a jerk as well.”

“
Oh Jesus
. . .
” Yoori laughed at Tae Hyun’s unintentional cuteness as he drank from his cup of milk. He metamorphosed from looking like a sexy wolf to an adorable puppy. She was positive that this was one of those moments where Tae Hyun’s tactic of endeavoring to “make-Choi-Yoori-feel-better” was to piss her off. No doubt he was trying to coax out her fiery wits so she would scream at him and forget that she was miserable. If any other guy tried that method with her, they would be looking at an early grave. However, Tae Hyun’s oozing charm allowed him to be the only one who could get away from such a grim fate.

Regardless of his efforts, she couldn’t help but release another sigh. Her thoughts journeyed back to
the mother and children. She was silent for several more moments before she started to finally eat her cake. A massive pit materialized in her stomach while she chewed. Yoori hesitantly peered at Tae Hyun. She wondered what his thoughts were on the conveyed information.

“So,” Yoori drawled. “W
hat do you think about everything I told you? You’re not the least bit disgusted with me?”

He finished the last of his cake
and stared at her with nonchalance. “Why should I be?”

“Because
. . .
” She surveyed her surroundings and leaned in closely. “Well, you know why.”

She killed
children for goodness’ sake.

The thought
was sickening to her. It disturbed her every time she thought about it. She could only imagine how Tae Hyun must feel to be sitting across the monster who performed such an immoral act.

“You’re not the same person,
” he assured her with conviction. She could see the contemplation in his eyes as he thought about the woman and her children. At the same time, she saw the confidence on his face. “You and Soo Jin are completely different. I understand how guilty you must feel right now, but you also have to remember that it wasn’t you who did all those things. It was her and her alone.”

“
You really see us as being different?” Yoori tentatively inquired. Although she had asked Tae Hyun this particular question numerous times in the past, she had never wanted his reassurance more than now. “That what she did has no reflection on me?”

Will you really forgive me for all the sins she committe
d?
She wanted to add.

“Yes,
Nemo,” he confirmed, lifting Yoori’s heart up with hope. He then pushed the cake closer to her. “Now hurry up and finish eating. I’m done with my cake. I don’t want to sit around and wait all day for you.”

Yoori furrowed her brows at
her new pet name. He had called her that during the ball, but she thought it was an isolated incident. It was so strange to hear him call her that when he didn’t even know what a “Nemo” was the night before.

“Are you seriously calling me ‘Nemo’ from now on as my pet name?” she asked
offhandedly, throwing her plastic fork onto the empty plate. She grabbed her plate and gave him a quick glare before standing up and tossing it into a nearby trashcan.

Tae Hyun shrugged with a hidden smile. He collected
his trash and threw it away.

“If I feel like it,” h
e drawled out with his sultry and smooth voice.

“It’s not a sexy name though,
” Yoori childishly complained as she stepped out of the bakery and onto the crowded sidewalk.

She felt the
icy, winter breeze lash against her skin. Just as quickly as the breeze picked up, warm, electric currents coursed through her body when Tae Hyun wrapped his arms around her hips. He gravitated towards Yoori and bestowed her neck with a quick kiss. Yoori smiled uncontrollably at this display of affection.

“Nicknames rarely are,
” he purred into her ear. He playfully bit and nibbled the tip of her earlobe, triggering an involuntary whimper from Yoori’s lips as they immersed into the crowd.

“Tae Hyun!
” Yoori mumbled halfheartedly, pulling away from his grasp. “We’re outside!”

Although
being teased to death by Tae Hyun was certainly one of Yoori’s favorite pastimes, she was still a prude at heart. How could he make her whimper like that when a kid could have heard her on the street?

Unaffected by her
reprimand, Tae Hyun merely chuckled at the rosy blush forming on her cheeks. Releasing a breathy sigh, he pulled up her velour hood to protect her against the cold and entwined the gaps between her fingers with his. Hand-in-hand, they sauntered down the street together.

“What do you think
they’re looking for?” she questioned as the frosty wind gusted past them. They instinctively moved closer together to avoid bumping into other pedestrians on the crowded sidewalk. Though her guilt had subsided after talking to Tae Hyun, she still had other things she wanted to address with him, especially matters pertaining to the mysterious item. “I know that by the time you took the reign, the Siberian Tigers were already exterminated, but have you heard anything about them? Things that they may have owned? Things that might be of importance to someone like Ju Won?”

Tae Hyun
stopped abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk to deliberate for a moment. “Before I took over the Serpents’ throne, Dong Min gave me some information about the Siberian Tigers. Apparently, in addition to the Scorpions family, the Siberian Tigers family was a family that Ju Won was close to as well. There’s not much more I can tell you apart from that. You already know that it was your brother who exterminated them, and we both know what happened to the extended family that night.”

Yoori shook her head with resentment, recalling that her brother wouldn’t disclose more information last night.

“He just won’t tell me more than that,” she groaned, reclining her head towards the overcast sky.

They reached another dead
-end in the conversation, and she felt unsettled with her emotions. Yoori understood that her brother hid this information away from her because he didn’t want to risk her remembering the past. Yet, she also couldn’t deny how enticing the secret was. She felt allured to its enigmatic secret and desired to uncover the truth. Although she wanted to closet her memories, she still had this innate desire to know what the mentally deranged Soo Jin was up to.

“In about
three days, I’m leaving to go back to the second Serpents’ estate,” Tae Hyun announced casually, stirring her from her thoughts. “I have business I need to take care of there.”

“What do you need to do there?” Yoori asked, momentarily distracted with this new announce
ment.

“Ju
Won’s 65
th
birthday is near,” he explained as they continued to walk hand-in-hand. His voice was weary and spent. “You’ve only been introduced to a diplomatic Underworld so far. Like it’s been previously mentioned, we’re all holding back on the bloodshed until his birthday. But once his birthday comes, this world will revert back to its old ways. I need to prepare my Serpents for the things to come.”

“Oh
. . .
Oh okay,” Yoori faintly responded, disturbed that the current Underworld was considered peaceful. She couldn’t and didn’t want to envision what a “regular” Underworld would be like with the amplified bloodshed and internal warfare. The thought of the Underworld and Tae Hyun becoming more violent petrified her.

She gazed at him, her thoughts migrating back to what he said about returning to the Serpents
’ estate. She wondered if this meant he was leaving her for a while. It would suck to be alone in the apartment without him. “Should I stay at a hotel or something while you’re away?”

“I actually want you to come with me,” he
said instead, catching her by surprise.

Yoori
gawked at him. She was still floored that he would even share his first Serpents’ estate with her. She did not expect to be invited to the second estate. Being present for the secret initiation was one thing, but being privy to the second estate where the Serpents were trained was something else entirely. “But I thought I’m not allowed. Hae Jin told me I had to be initiated into the gang before I could go to the second estate—”

“You’re allowed entry if
a King grants it to you,” he informed her, his brown eyes softening on her. “And I want you to come with me.”

“Why would you still do that?” she asked stupidly. “You already did that with the first estate.”

He laughed, eliciting the careless charm that he radiated so brilliantly. “I told you before, I brought you to the first estate because I wanted you to know everything about me. I want every part of my life—all my secrets—to be open to you. This is not a store, Brat. I’m not picking and choosing when to be open with you. I want it to be consistent, and I want to share my second estate with you as well.”

Uneasiness inundated her thoughts
. His prerogative to be candid only reminded her of her cowardice attempt to keep the secret behind his mother’s death from him. Her brother’s damning words echoed in her mind, reminding her to ask Tae Hyun the dreaded question. She waved the question off in her mind. She could not deal with this right now.