⭑· · ───── ·( 𝐂 𝐡 𝐞 𝐨 𝐥 )· ───── · · ⭑
I sit with my legs crossed, fingers tapping a beat on the armchair in Jeonghan's old office at Club Seoulite.
I was finally done with fixing Kwon's mess. Took a whole load of bullets and two or three knife slices.
My mind's on the situation at hand, both of them— the gun shit and Ava.
For the first time in a long while, the girl wins out over work.
Still... fuck.
Ava Lee, I'm addicted to her, and I haven't allowed myself to get addicted to nothing but nicotine.
Not to mention the constant ache that no amount of drinking seems to help.
I know she wants to runaway, but I have my reasons for keeping her.
Reasons she won't understand.
Or maybe she will, maybe—
"Seungcheol, what the fuck happened?" Jeonghan saunters in and takes his seat. The hard lines of his face reveal the force of his iron fist.
His eyes show his fairness.
But some mistake that for weakness.
Exactly once.
Then they end up dead.
I like a man like that.
Blowing out a breath, I spread my hands.
"Fucking Lev met the fate of thieves."
Kozlov should've known that sending Lev to steal our gun shipment was a fuking bad idea.
"But didn't talk?"
"Oh, he talked. A lot of bullshit." I sit up and lean forward. "He was a lot more scared of whoever's behind the murders than he was of me."
Jeonghan's eyes narrow as he grasps the implications.
"We're the scariest fucking thing to happen to Chicago in decades. You'd have to be stupid... or have some power behind you."
"A combination of both is my thought."
It hasn't all been Ava. The Lev shit's been turning in my mind too.
"But still, you didn't get anything?"
"I don't think you, me, and Mingyu would have been able to. When I say he was scared, he was basically shitting himself." I sigh, "And yes, I'm fucking surprised too. Normally they talk."
"Normally."
The whole situation is odd, and in our world, odd equals danger.
But if we're in so much potential danger, why can't I get my mind off Ava?
Shit, for as much as I hate this, I'm not sure I can knowingly put her in any kind of danger—at least, not in danger that doesn't directly involve me.
Suddenly, I look up. Jeonghan's frowning. "Sorry, boss."
"I asked if there was anything?"
Her taste was definitely something.
I force my head back to what he's asking. "I think he wanted to die rather than say a damn thing."
I can't get her into all this, not when I don't know the full extent of the dangers.
What I do know is already bad enough. Even if Ava was at that fucking bar when it all went down.
Then again, she might not play.
Even if she wants to.
And she does; she just proved that a few hours ago.
But she also said no.
And when I texted her on my way back to Jeonghan's office to check if she was still at my place, she never responded.
I don't expect her to.
She'll be in too much turmoil to do that. And it makes me suddenly want to smile.
