Dragon's Butterfly (Hiatus)

Pawn 027

THE UNDERGROUND WORLD

 (The information used for this chapter is from this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kkangpae. I borrowed some of it for this one, the rest are from my imagination. Just for clarification purposes.

PS. Funny, the history I was imagining in my head before I googled all this was similar to the history in my head. Kinda creepy, honestly.)

During the 1960's-1980's, gangsters ruled South Korea. They mostly had control over the entertainment, media and political sectors of the country. Gangsters were also heavily involved in extortion, prostitution, loan sharking and money laundering activities as well as having businesses like selling illegal goods (drugs, guns, etc.) and night clubs. Contrary to the belief of every South Korean citizen, Seoul was not the hotbed of these gangsters, but the cities of Gwangju, Mokpo, Busan and Incheon. These gangsters were only active in Seoul to keep the secrecy of their headquarters.

On the year 1990, the South Korean government declared a war against the organized crimes, which resulted in incarceration, or imprisonment of anyone who was caught by the police—otherwise known as 'Seoul's Conflict'. During that year, everyone who was engaged in any organized group of criminals was running for their lives, for the sake of keeping their fortune . . . and their lives, even if it meant causing bloodshed.

One of them was Park Ji Soo.

-

Park Ji Soo is known to his neighbors and friends as an average office employee working in a corporation based in Busan, where his family lives. But to any high-profile gangster, especially to a Submissive, he is not just any other man.

He worked as a Messenger for the Submissives, whether they were By Loss or By Power. He relayed messages among Submissives and he was paid with a large sum of money. Truth be told, he never wanted to be one, if it weren't for the sudden financial crash that quickly crippled the corporation (the East Asian Financial Crisis). He was forced to leave it along with the rest of his officemates. He couldn't tell it to his wife, Sunye, especially now that she was pregnant with their second child. Because of that, he took the offer from one of the gangsters that told him about being a Messenger, despite the dangers that it might entail.

On those years that he worked as a Messenger, he was able to earn a fortune close to KRW 500B. Ji Soo, having some knowledge acquired from working as an office employee and being involved in the gangster world, started an underground business that sells guns and ammunition. He knew that every gangster, Gang Heads especially, was in a dire need of these after the government sent hints regarding a war against the organized criminals. In a matter of months he rose from an ordinary Seller (one who sells any gangster paraphernalia to the underground residents) to a powerful black market Mogul (a big-time Seller who owns a wide-scale corporation but still stays underground). He was respected by everyone, even by the Black Elites.

During that time that he became officially a part of the underground, he wasn't at home every night, because he was stationed at Gwangju. He lied to Sunye that he applied for a job there; therefore he couldn't go home much. He only stayed for the whole day during the holidays, and on some occasions when his daughter, Sandara, was terribly sick. Sunye noticed there was something off by how her husband acted sometimes, especially when he's about to leave the house.  It only worsened when she checked out their bank account, which held a large sum of money. Sunye tried to ask him why, but all Ji Soo said was, "I couldn't risk your lives. I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

When the South Korean government waged a war against the gangsters, Ji Soo knew that he, too, was also in danger. He knew that if he didn't act soon, his family's life would also be terribly harmed. He knew how ruthless the police can get, even with women and children. Quickly, he went to his office in Gwangju and started to do the things he had to do . . . especially for his family. He knew it was the only way in order to make up for his mistakes, mistakes that started when he signed up as a Messenger.

He knew that forgiveness from his wife won't be easy to get in the long run, but he hoped that she would accept his decision . . . and its consequences.

-

All of us were stunned into silence as we stared at Omma in shock, after she told us everything about my father.

"I knew all that because of the letter he left that day he went away," Omma whispered, her eyes looking down. "But on the postscript, he told me to burn it as soon as I read it."

I could feel blood drain from my face as I sat down in shock. Because of what she'd said . . . because of what she'd said about my father . . . that just means . . .

"Dara? Dara? You okay?" Bom asked quietly as she put an arm around my shoulders.

I could only look at her helplessly, my eyes probably betraying everything I felt right now.

"Dara? Why?" she whispered. "Auntie? Sanghyun? Why is Dara too pale?"

Before anyone could answer, we heard a sound of a car stopping at the driveway outside.

[veronascarlette's BTW: Sooo I read those recent comments from my last update~ and it's all heartwarming! Whoop whoop thank you ^^ I'd been bored the last weeks or so to the point I'd made a lot of chaps already kkkk—but I'm not gonna update them all you know! (Like aye man I better slow it down~) Okay let's go back to business~ Read up!

Wait, just noticed that this story is already a year old . . . but I'm afraid I'm not yet halfway. Or am I?]