Taste of ink (VKOOK) (KOOKV)

Play It One More Time

The old Sam Yong Pa den was still there, like it had been for the last three years. It was as if the massacre hadn't even happened, that several men hadn't been bludgeoned and stabbed to death inside. Hard to believe but true. Jungkook knew that it had been empty for that period of time too. His old gang had moved onto another area, had lost this neighbourhood to Geum Sung Pa just a month after he and Hoseok had departed, and he knew that they were somewhere around Gunamro now. He hadn't been inside or even near the new den but he knew of its existence for security purposes. The only time he had ever met Sam Yong Pa men to make deals and negotiations with had been right on the street outside of the old den; what he liked to think of in his head as ground zero. Right now he was staring at the exterior of the old den in the backseat beside Hoseok. Jungkook had his switchblade in hand and he was currently playing with it, slipping the blade free and then snapping it back in place, hefting it from hand to hand impatiently. His friend was scanning through photographs and files on his tablet, eyes moving rapidly from side to side as he tapped or swiped his fingers on the screen.

"You really think Kim's been coming here?" Hoseok asked quietly as he flicked to another file and turned the device sideways on his lap.

"I do," Jungkook replied. "I think he's been here a few times in the past but he's quick and smart about it. We all know Sam Yong Pa are too scared to come around here. Even their biggest goons piss their panties when you mention this place, not only after the murders but also the violence for months on end. You remember how bad it was, right?"

"Yeah, I remember getting my ass kicked so bad I thought I was gonna die and I had five fingers broken like twigs," his friend muttered, eyes not leaving the screen once. "And I remember Sunmi having about twenty armed goons near her at all times to stop any fuckers touching her."

"God...I remember that too," Jungkook said in a low voice. "I swore if any fucker touched her I'd cut their cock off."

"Lucky thing you didn't have to, huh?" Hoseok asked as he moved onto another file. "I wouldn't wanna touch a Geum Sung Pa cock."

"Yeah...me neither," Jungkook said and then he felt a sharp pain in his finger. He looked down to see that he had sliced his thumb open on the switchblade and so he stuck it in his mouth. He tasted

blood, thick and coppery on his tongue and swallowing seemed too hard to do so he stuck his head through the gap in the window and spat a mouthful of bloody spittle out onto the curb. The interior of the car fell silent and he sighed as he looked over at the den once more. It was the exact same brick exterior but marked with graffiti that had never been there when he had lived in the apartment room above the den. He just knew that teens - or maybe drunken adults - had dared one another to leave a mark on it; on the old Sam Yong Pa building. There was probably rumours of it being haunted and he wouldn't be surprised if it was. After all he could feel a shiver running down his spine just looking at it. Going inside would be enough to make him feel a little breathless, he just knew it.

"Can't find any footage of him, no reported sightings," Hoseok said after a few minutes of silence. He was still flicking through the photographs and files. "Seems we've seen him everywhere but this area."

"Call Jaehyo," Jungkook instructed. "Get him to check the CCTV for this area." Hoseok asked him why as he pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket. "Got a feeling that it's been hacked into somehow."

"Hacked?" His friend raised his eyebrows at this and then he was scrolling through his phone and looking for the man's name. When he pressed the device against his ear Jungkook popped the door open and stepped onto the curb. "Hey, yeah it's me and I need you to check something for me..."