Recalcitrant - BTS

Chapter 1

Minji

*Knock knock knock*

Ara and I looked up from the table and over towards the door. Some new neighbors had moved into the apartment across from us and they seemed pretty set on trying to greet us. We'd been avoiding them of course. People were not exactly our forte. Yet these guys seemed rather persistent. We had yet to actually see them, we just found out it was a couple of men when we heard them talking outside our door.

Our lifestyle didn't really leave room for making new friends. It was better for them and for us if we just ignored them. Thankfully they seemed to be on a rather opposite schedule than us. Ara tried to convince me that maybe if we just said hello they'd leave us alone but I wasn't willing to take that kind of chance. What if they were from a rival gang? What if they had been sent to look for us or try to kill us? Not that I had any doubt in our ability to take them down. You don't become the leaders of a gang by not being able to take someone down.

Ara and I had been in the business practically our whole lives, but we came from different sides of it. My family ran successful real estate businesses and worked closely with Ara's family gang, as well as a few others. We had deep roots in the underground and yet no one ever suspected a thing. On the outside, my family was perfectly polished and well to do. We made a great cover for all the gangs we worked with. Ara's family was a different story. They'd been running a gang that was founded by her great grandfather when Korea was under Japanese rule. Their history was violent, and Ara had been raised a fighter. Seeing as her older brother had zero interest in the family business, she was the one trained to take over.

I was still in training to completely take over my own family's enterprise, but I had my hand in every deal we made in the underground. Especially because Ara's father had fallen ill so she was forced into the leadership position earlier than expected. My own parents thought she and I would work well together. My family was technically part of Ara's family gang, they just had to keep up appearances and keep business deals going with the other gangs. Ara and I were raised with two very different mindsets, but we complemented one another. I was the one bringing in the suitcase of money to rival gang leaders, negotiating deals and if they pulled any funny business, Ara was the one holding a gun to their head. We made a great pair.

That's not to say we didn't share each other's skillset. I could certainly hold my own in a fight and knew my way around a gun almost better than Ara, who was more proficient with hand to hand combat.  Ara was a great negotiator and could tell when someone was lying better than anyone I'd ever met. Though what goes up must come down. While we were rather skilled in the business, we both weren't exactly people pleasers.

Whispers about us often went through the gang members, especially amongst the newer members. Ara confronted some terrified underling, slamming him into the wall and getting his face after he called me judgmental and suspicious. Naturally, I had him watched after that... unfortunately proving him right. But he ended up being thrown out of the gang, by the hand of Ara no less. We were girls raised in a lifestyle that wasn't normal, our upbringing was unconventional at best. We felt we had every right to our flaws and wore them proudly. We weren't out to impress anyone with our personalities, we were out to do business and get shit done. That was that.

The only friends we had were each other and other people involved in our world. We couldn't take a chance on becoming friends with civilians. I wasn't about to let it happen no matter how much Ara whined and complained. She understood her position, yet she still whined about her lack of love life.

*Knock knock knock*

"Hurry up and leave." I whispered towards the door, even though the people on the other side couldn't hear me. I hated having to remain silent and still while they stood lurking outside our apartment door. Ara and I had moved in the current place together two years earlier, after being run out of our old place by a landlord who said we brought 'hooligans' around. We were a lot more careful of who knew our home location after that incident.