Blood and Roses || Lee Taeyong

Chapter 2 | "perfect fighter"

"No. Absolutely not. You are not getting involved in gang life, Chaerin, no way." Kun said, shaking his head in protest.

"Oh come on, why not?" Chaerin groaned. "It seems so cool!"

"Yeah, ease up, Kun, she would actually be so helpful." Yuta said with a nod. "She's the best coder in our Uni, and we all know that Hendery and Renjun are struggling with the tech stuff."

"I mean, she's got four years of college experience on them. It would really help out..." Jaehyun mumbled with a nod.

"See! It's perfect, and we can train her to defend herself and everything!" Yuta exclaimed happily, high fiving with Chaerin.

"This was what you were planning all along, wasn't it? It's why you brought her here in the first place!" Kun said, pointing an accusatory finger at the Japanese boy.

"Maybe..."

"Who cares! I want to help! I need some action in my life!" Chaerin said with a smile.

"You realize we kill people, right Chae?" Kun said, turning to face her with a serious expression. "We've all killed multiple people and we've all had people try to kill us."

She froze, her expression faltering slightly.

"Oh uh... well that's not ideal..."

"Yeah, and joining us would mean people out there, bad, scary people, trying to kill you. And it means you almost certainly will have to kill someone too." Kun continued, staring her down. "Are you prepared to do that?"

She didn't answer, almost stunned by his bluntness. Ten quickly stood up and threw and arm around her shoulders.

"Chill out, Ten, she won't need to. We'll train her, sure, but she's going to stay right here in this house and lead us from home base. If she's joining, she'll be joining as a hacker, not a field agent." She relaxed as she heard Ten's words. "So what do you say, Chae?"

She paused, seeing all eyes on her as she quickly thought about the decision.

"I'm in."

- - -

"So, you four have made this decision, hmm?" Taeyong said lowly, staring at the four boys who were currently standing in his office. "You just decided that she would be joining us. Funny, last I checked, none of you were the leader."

They all gulped nervously under his intimidating glare, none of them wanting to speak first.

"I have half a mind to kill you. No one challenges my authority!" Taeyong yelled out angrily, the boys flinching back at his shout. "Don't think I won't kill you, I'll have no challenges in this gang."

"Taeyong."

The older boy turned to see Jaehyun standing in the doorway.

"I approved it."

Taeyong's eyes narrowed as his second in command stepped into the room.

"I'm not challenging your authority, Taeyong, I would never dream of it." Jaehyun continued cautiously. "But this is a good idea. Think rationally. We need a hacker and she's got four years of college level training. She won't be on the field, just to help out here."

Taeyong didn't respond, weighing his options.

"Fine. She can stay. But only because we need her, and you four." He said, turning to look at her four friends. "Don't pull something like this ever again or I will kill you."

"Yes sir." They said in unison, bowing their heads to the leader before quickly running out of the room.

"Train her, Jae." Taeyong said to the other boy. "She's going to need to know how to fight just in case. Have Jeno and Jaemin help you."

"Got it. I'll go show her around and get started."

Taeyong sighed as Jaehyun left the room, slumping down in his chair and rubbing the sides of his head.

"Another innocent dragged into this shit... what were they thinking..."

- - -

"Alright, Chaerin, we got boss' approval so you're in!" Doyoung said happily as the four of them ran back downstairs to approach her.

"Yay! I don't really know what I'm doing so you're going to have to teach me a lot." She said with a laugh.

"Don't sweat it. You'll be a perfect fighter in no time." Yuta said with a nod. "For now, we'll show you around and stuff."

"Actually, I'll do that." They turned to see Jaehyun coming down the stairs. "I'll be handling her training. Taeyong's orders."

"What? Why?" Ten said with a groan. "She's our friend!"

"Exactly. Conflict of interest. If she's going to join us and survive, she needs to be trained properly and seriously." Jaehyun said with a serious expression.

"Ugh whatever, I guess he's right, Ten." Yuta sighed out with a nod.

"Good, now I'll show you around." Jaehyun said, smiling at Chaerin. "Jeno, Jaemin!" He called to two other boys. "You're assisting me with her."

Chaerin watched as young boys stood up from their seats, smiles on their faces as they made their way over to her.

"Hi I'm Jeno!" Said one with an eye smile.

"And I'm Jaemin!" Said the other.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Chaerin." She replied, returning their cheery grins.

"This is the first time we've been allowed to help train someone before, but don't worry, we'll do a good job." Jeno said with a nod, Jaemin mimicking his determined expression.

Cute.

"Alright, let's show her around and then do a quick examination." Jaehyun said, gesturing for her to follow.