Unchained | Yoongi

Casino

The holiday before the last term of school finally started. I planned for my 18th party to be on the first weekend of the holiday, which was a few days away. But before that, I was going to go with Yoongi to the underground casino that he now ran. I have fully moved into my new house and I did certainly feel an increased degree of freedom.

My maid knocked on my bedroom door at around 7 in the evening and informed me that a car pulled up outside. I looked into the full-length mirror in my walk-in closet for the final time. Yoongi told me to wear something elegant and sexy, and boy, did I go for it.

I grabbed my black clutch bag and walked to the front of my house to open the door for him. As soon as I saw his handsome face I could not help but smile. He looked dashing in the black tuxedo he was in.

"Whoa," he scanned me from head to toe. "You are beautiful."

"Thank you," I was more than happy seeing his reaction. "You're pretty handsome yourself."

He put a hand on my lower back and kissed me on my cheeks. We then entered the back of his black Maserati. 

"What are we going to do there?" I asked.

"Hopefully, not much," Yoongi answered. "This is our first time there, and I'm sure word has already got around that the new runner of the casino will be there today. We will just walk around and let them see our faces, and maybe get to know some people there."

"Who will be there?"

"High-profile people. This is not just some cheap casino, it's invitation only. If you want to play here, the minimum buy-in is 2 million won. And you have to keep playing if you want to keep your invitation."

-----

We pulled up at a rather deserted area of Busan. The car made its way into a grim-looking building. When I got out all it looked like was a normal car park. But upon closer inspection, I could tell that it was anything but normal. All the cars there were of those luxury brands: Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin... all that you could name. 

I followed Yoongi until we stopped in front of a lift. It soon came up after Yoongi pressed the button. The inside of the lift was still nothing out of the ordinary, just the bare metal walls. It went down two floors into the ground.

When the door opened, was were faced with a brightly-lit rocky tunnel with a black wooden double door at the other end. Two guards in suits stood in front of it.

"This used to be a war bunker," Yoongi said as we walked down the tunnel. He then offered me an arm, "Take my arm." And I did so.

It looked like they recognised us. As soon as they saw us approaching, they each grabbed hold of a handle on the door. They pulled it open.

Inside was a different world. 

Jazz music and chatter filled the high-ceilinged casino hall as men and women in elegant clothes won and lost. Tables of games such as Blackjack and Roulette were going on. All the tables were filled with people around. Waitresses in skimpy dresses walked around with the free drinks in hand, occasionally getting tipped with gambling chips by the wealthy gamblers. When the door closed behind us, it was almost as if I could forsake the bleak world I came from and get lost in here forever.

A man came up to us. He looked to be in his forties and also had an expensive-looking suit on. "Mr Min?"

"Yes." Yoongi nodded

"This way please," he said and gestured.

We followed him down the carpeted floor of the gambling hall until where there was a flight of curved stairs leading up to the platform that made up the second floor. It seemed like access to this floor was restricted since two more guards stood at the bottom end of the stairs. They stood aside for us to go up.

There were only three gambling tables up on that floor, and only the one closest to the railing of the platform was occupied. The carpet here was just plain red, as opposed to the patterned version downstairs.

When we walked closer to the end table I saw those that were sitting there: Han Gyeongseok and his son, Yugyeom. Mr Han gave Yoongi a curt nod as we both sat down opposite them.

"Why is she here?" he asked, nodding towards me.

"She's with me," Yoongi answered firmly.

I noticed that Yugyoem couldn't take his eyes off me. He was in the same suit that he wore to the funeral, but with a different tie. He swallowed and smiled when he noticed me looking back.

"So," Han Gyeongseok said, "Leader Kim has given you the task to run this casino. I'm going to oversee how you do and report back to him. I hope Mr Min taught you enough before his passing."

"I would like to say he did," Yoongi replied.

"Alright," the bald man then said to his son, "Yugyeom, bring Oh Eunjung around. I have matters to discuss with Yoongi, alone."

"Yes, father." Yugyeom stood up from his chair. He offered me his arm which I took. He then led me away, back down the stairs to the busier first floor. As we descended I noticed people down there occasionally glancing at us and at the platform. They paid quite a bit of attention to who was and what went on up there.

"Eunjung," Yugyeom said. "Do you know how to gamble?"

"No," I shook my head. "Do you?"

"My father taught me," he replied. "Would you like me to teach you?"

"Um...sure," I said. He led me to one of the less noisy tables.

"This is a game of Blackjack," he said. He got two black chips from his suit pocket and placed it in the pile. "The aim of the game is to accumulate a higher point total than the dealer, but without going over 21. You get your total score by adding the values of all your cards. The cards 2 to 10 have their face value, J, Q, and K are worth 10 points each, and the Ace is worth either 1 or 11 points."

Yugyeom was dealt two cards, one a 7, and one an ace, so he had 18. The dealer himself had one card facing up, which showed a 9, and the other card facing down.

"And now we must decide whether to take another card, or stand."

Some players said stand, while some said hit, to which the dealer gave another card. When it was Yugyeom's turn, he said, "Stand."

When finally all the players had either stood or has been busted, the dealer revealed his hidden card. It was a 10, and now he had 19.

"Ah, dammit," Yugyeom muttered. "Should have hit."

"I see how this works," I said. "This looks interesting."

"Would you like to try?" He asked, getting out another chip and handing it to me.

I shook my head. "No, I'm good. And I can't just take your chip anyway."

"Oh, right." He shoved it back into his pocket. "I'll show you around the casino then."

As he led me away to see the other facilities, I looked back up at the platform. I could just see Yoongi and Han Gyeongseok there speaking to each other. I hoped that man wasn't giving Yoongi a hard time.