𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 - 𝐛.𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧

ten

Two days later, Chan had decided that he wanted me to be comfortable with the men that he was closest with, and we would be hosting a dinner party for the seven that he cared for the most.

Back in Seoul, when our household had held dinner parties, my parents would often have the cook make all of the food, and whilst my husband had offered to get a cook to make food for the entire group, I had turned him down on the proposal. I wanted to cook myself and had settled on creamy chicken and pumpkin with banoffee pie for dessert.

I had spent a while in the kitchen, Chan assisting me, although, we ended up making out on the kitchen counter a couple of times. I felt as though I was in some sort of dream. Here I was, in Daegu, cooking with my husband whom I'd thought would be the reason for my misery. But honestly, I couldn't have been any happier.

A few hours later, I'd showered and changed into an elegant, pale pink, satin-like skirt with a white blouse. Chan wore black slacks and a shirt of the same colour, pulling me into his arms as he spotted me.

"You look beautiful," He let out a low laugh as I tried to sort out my hair once more.

"And you look just as amazing," I beamed at him.

The guests had arrived a few moments later, greeting us, with my husband introducing me to them all. I distinctly remembered seeing them at the wedding, yet only quick exchanges had been made at the time. Minho and Changbin were there, the only two I knew properly, and Jeongin was alongside the older boys too.

"Hwang Hyunjin, my Underboss," I remembered seeing the blond boy at both when our engagement had been announced and the incident at the hotel. He smiled at me.

"A pleasure to properly meet you," He said smoothly. "I believe we haven't actually had the chance to have a decent conversation,"

"No, they were always very quick meetings," I returned the smile before Chan presented the next boy.

"Felix Lee, one of my Captains, and Kim Seungmin, also a Captain. Felix and Minho are cousins,"

Felix reminded me of a cat, but not in the way Minho did. The younger of the Lee boys was perhaps a little more softer than his older cousin, yet even so, I knew that the freckled boy was just as dangerous alongside the men in this room.

Seungmin reminded me of a puppy with his gentle, yet firm features and the Kim grinned at me. "I hope you've been liking Daegu so far,"

"It's quite lovely," I said with honesty. "I didn't think I'd like it much, but I was proven wrong,"

"Han Jisung, the Enforcer of the Daegu Family,"

The blue-haired boy was familiar to me, and as I tried to place where I had seen him, he spoke up. "We've met before, although, I don't know if you'd remember. The Busan-Seoul meeting,"

I snapped my fingers. "You're the son of Busan's Consigliere, Han Donghyuck,"

"Was," He smirked. "I belong with Daegu now, but yeah, that's where we met. I was considerably younger of course, but I still remember you,"

I didn't ask why he was here in Daegu and not in Busan, not yet. We weren't familiar with each other yet and I didn't want to risk offending him in any way.

"And you know Jeongin, Changbin and Minho of course,"

The youngest of the boys offered me a wave, his fox eyes crinkling into crescents as he smiled. My bodyguard raised a hand in greeting and Minho smiled.

"Let's have dinner first," I decided. "Then we can all chat,"

I soon found that it wasn't at all uncomfortble with the boys, who seemed to treat each other like they were family, like brothers. We were laughing, chatting and enjoying our time together, and before dessert had been served, I was conversing with the boys like I'd known them all of my life. I had even managed to get over my slight fear of Minho and had been laughing with him too.

"Jisung, if you don't mind me asking, how come you left Busan?" Jisung raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his wine before he answered.

"My mother died when I was eleven," He said bitterly. "And my older sister couldn't stand the idea of living without her and with our father, so she ran away, trying to become an outsider," He let out a laugh that had no humor in it. "Course, she didn't make it very far, Father had people hunting her, and when they captured her and brought her back to our house, she had been so distraught and so overcome with anger and sadness that she hung herself,"

I gasped. I was beginning to remember the Busan-Seoul meet and distinctly could remember Han Jisoo. She'd been a very sweet and pretty girl at twelve. The idea that she couldn't bear with the thought of living and had ended her life was a shock.

"Father put on a huge show of her funeral, and mourned and wept for her, but the second she was lowered into the grave, he looked for a new, younger wife who could give him sons, believing that my mother's 'tainted' blood was what had caused my sister to kill herself, and he thought the same would happen with me," Jisung's eyes met mine. "He threw me out of his house, and tried to have me killed. But the guy took pity on me and chucked me into the borders of Daegu, so that they could finish me off,"

"But lucky for Jisung, we didn't," Hyunjin smirked. "We found him and took him in, inducting him into the Daegu Crime Family," The blond boy nodded at the tattoo on Jisung's arm, a crown, a mark of the Daegu Family.

"I've been with Daegu ever since," He smiled. "And I have no intention of ever going back to Busan,"

I nodded. I had heard so many terrible stories about Daegu, yet the Family had never struck me as the type to take in unwanted soldiers from other families, putting a roof over their heads and feeding them. That was something that neither Seoul nor Busan would ever do. We were too prideful, too pompous with our actions.

"What about you Felix?" I asked.

"My family in Australia ran our international connections and affairs," He explained. "When Chan was sent to Australia, he came to my house during the holidays, and when he decided to go back, he asked me if I'd swear loyalty to him and take back what was rightfully his," The younger Lee boy grinned with pride. "I did and I've been with him on the run and everything,"

We continued to chat even long after dessert, and as I stared at the boys in the living room, I realised why Chan had them so close to him. These boys had been prepared to give their own lives, and stand by him in order for him to regain his city. They'd stood with him then, and they would do so for the rest of their lives.