Roulette ♧ 엑소

f i f t y e i g h t

$ f i f t y e i g h t $

Mei Lin had assured her husband that she would go to her meeting and forget all about Choi Minha when he begged her to drop the subject. He promised he would talk to Baekhyun and solve things himself. But she lied, she couldn't let it go. Now she was in her car with her best friend Hyuna and they were on their way into Jackals territory. Hyuna didn't know exactly where they were going at first when she got the text message, but when Mei Lin asked her to come along, she didn't decline. The two sat in the car now with Mei Lin muttering a stream of curse words in Mandarin under her breath. Once they had gotten out of the small sector controlled by the Coven, she asked Hyuna how to get to the Jackals' home.

Meilin told the whole story to her friend on the way there. They arrived at their home and Mei Lin parked in front, shutting off her engine. The two women climbed out of the car and went up to the front gates.

"I'm here to talk to Minha." Mei Lin said to the guard impatiently, her foot tapping on the ground and her arms crossed over her chest. She looked every bit intimidating--her jet black hair falling past her shoulders, red lipstick adorning her lips, skinny jeans, and a leather jacket. She had changed out of her formal clothes for the meeting and changed into her regular clothes which she wore as a member of the Coven.

Her husband was one of the higher ranks--second in command--and it was the same rank that she shared through her marriage to him. She normally didn't like getting herself involved in their gang business, but when someone was trying to come onto her husband, she couldn't just sit back and let it happen without any consequences.

"Who is looking for her?" The guard asked.

"Min Hyuna." Hyuna offered her name, since she had been a friend of Minha's when she lived in Korea and the pack had twelve members. She, Hani, and Minha had been very close friends. But she had heard from Hani that Minha wasn't the same anymore. And now with what Meilin told her, Hyuna wasn't sure if she would be able to continue being friends with her.

The security guard announced her over his radio, and permission was given to let the two women into the property. The gates opened in front of them and the two girls walked up the driveway. As they made their way up the path, Mei Lin's hand gripped her gun tucked away beneath the waist band of her jeans. She was seething and she wanted nothing more than to give Minha a lesson. But she knew that they were outnumbered, and rethought her strategy.

They rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer it. It was a maid who gladly let them into the house, knowing that security cleared them. She also recognized Hyuna, since she had been working at the Jackals' home for a long time. She led them into the living room and went to call Minha. 

It was a few minutes before Minha entered the living room, a smile making its way onto her face when she recognized an old friend. Although to her, their friendship was still very much alive. "Hyuna!" She called, rushing over to her with open arms. She pulled her in for a tight hug, while Hyuna hugged her back with a bit of discomfort. She had no reason to dislike Minha yet. But all the things she had heard about her recently left her with little desire to rekindle their friendship. "Everything has been so stressful lately. You know Light abandoned me for some whore. Hani won't talk to him for me. And my son thinks my sister-in-law is his mother. I think you're the only real friend I have left."

"Hm." Meilin said from her side, getting Minha's attention. Minha had barely even noticed the beautiful dark haired Chinese woman was in the room. "Is that why you were coming onto my husband?"

Minha felt her stomach drop. So Lu Han hadn't been lying when he told her he was married and was uninterested in her. "Oh, fuck."

"Fuck indeed, bitch." Meilin said with a nod of her head. "I'm here to set things straight."

-

Jongdae planned a special dinner in their suite for him and Mariel. He had a surprise for her and he wanted everything to be perfect. He had asked the other boys to keep it down in their rooms, since he didn't want to be interrupted, nor did he want to hear the sounds of his brothers and sisters having a good time while he was trying to do something romantic with his girlfriend. 

They had dinner and talked about their day. Jongdae had mostly just gone patrolling with Jongin, while Mariel had spent most of her day with Ciel.

She had become almost like her babysitter, per Yifan's request. 

After their meal, he took her out to the balcony where he had gotten a tiny black velvet box attached to a bright red balloon dropped to them from the terrace with the help of Tao and Iva. They had been up there, waiting for Jongdae's signal, which was in the form of a text message. Mariel had been able to grab the box just before it passed them on its way down. 

She gasped in surprise before opening it and looked to Jongdae. The smile on his face was unmistakeable as he encouraged her to open it. "Its for you, baby." He said.

She held the small box in one hand and opened it with the other, revealing a beautiful diamond ring. Yifan had been the one to help him buy it, and Iva had been the one to select the perfect one, since she knew about jewels from the time that she had been dating Fu Jian. Mariel was taken aback by how beautiful it was. Never in her life had she received such a present, nor did she think she deserved it. After the life she had lived in order to survive in the world, she thought of herself as dirty and used.

But Jongdae didn't see her that way.

She felt tears sting her eyes when she saw him get down on one knee. "Baby, I know its long over due. We've been through hell and back together, and I love you so much. I want to spend every day of my life with you. I want to have like twelve kids with you--" There had been a smile on her face that remained through her tears of joy. But it dropped significantly when he mentioned wanting to have kids. "I want you to be my wife. Please marry me, Mariel Santos-Peralta."

"Oh, Jongdae." Her voice quivered with emotion. "I want to marry you."

His smile dropped an octave right then. "Then what's the problem?"

"I want you to hear this from me before we're years into the marriage and you find out the hard way." She explained, with some hesitance. But she knew that he needed to know because this was a potential deal breaker in their relationship.

Now he was frowning. "You're worrying me, Mariel."

"When I joined The End of the Night, one of my very first clients hurt me very badly." She continued, closing her eyes in what she felt was shame at herself. The memories of that night would haunt her for the rest of her life. "It was so bad that I was in the hospital for two weeks. When I woke up, I was told that he had damaged my insides so badly that I wouldn't be able to have children. I should have told you from the start, but I was afraid you would leave when I had already found someone who could love me beyond what I was at that club. I will never be able to bear your children. If you want to leave me now, I would understand."

She could no longer contain her tears and wept into her hands. Mariel loved him so much, and she didn't want to lose him.

-

another chapter for tonight. i bought three new albums at ktwon--miracles in december, sing for you, and for life. i was in a christmas shopping spirit. lol

anyway, i have to go shower and get in bed because tomorrow i have to get up at four in the morning to go to work. thank you all so much for reading and supporting this story. it means a lot to me. 

have a wonderful night everyone!

-clary